Through Golden Eyes
by GreenEcho
Summary: Cass knew the moment Travis told her the job, that it would end badly. After all, an assassin hired to kill Batman was pretty much destined to fail. She just didn't think that it would end the way it did. An OC story. Batfamily fluff. T for swearing and suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1

Golden eyes flickered open from her position on the bed. Heaving a deep sigh Cassandra slowly stood up and stretched before making her way to the kitchen. Cass's pace was slow as her feet slid across the floor, silent even when groggy with sleep. The eighteen year old was not a morning person. Who is? She quickly flipped on the coffee machine and collapsed on a kitchen chair. Only to be jostled out of her thoughts as her phone started blaring horror music. Answering it, she spoke before anyone else could.

"It is far too early in the morning to be calling me, Travis," she grouched. Travis, on the other end, had the nerve to laugh.

"G, it's like 7:30! Get your butt moving! We have a job!"

Cass plopped her head on the table and groaned. His fast talking combined with his accent sounded far too happy for this early in the morning, and Cass was in no way motivated to move until her coffee was done, job or not. As if knowing what she was thinking, Travis continued.

"I have that special coffee you like," he wheedled.

Cass perked up slightly.

"From the place on 7th?"

"Where else?" He paused for a minute, "I'm downstairs in the lobby."

As if expecting that to be enough incentive, Travis hung up. Cass shook her head in defeat before moving towards her room to get changed quickly, she flipped the coffee machine off on the way. Re-entering her bedroom, she quickly moved towards her large walk in closet. Inside were numerous outfits of different types of styles and occasions. Travis thought she was a shopaholic, she wasn't, she just wanted to be prepared to take on a new identity and personality at a moment's notice. At least, that's what she told everyone. The truth was in fact, that she was a bit of a shopaholic. After all, with her job she got a very nice paycheck. Her penthouse suit and extravagant closet were testimonies to that fact. Not knowing what job Travis had arranged, she dressed as she usually would to go out. Her outfit was simple; a red tank top, light skinny jeans, combat boots, and a cropped leather jacket. She slipped some colored contacts over her golden eyes so that they looked to be an ice blue. There wasn't much she could do with her hair, which was a bright, eye catching white. Most people, however usually just assumed it was dyed. Contemplating the benefits of dying her hair, Cassandra quickly braided it before grabbing her trusty, fingerless, gloves and running towards the hotel lobby. Hopefully, Travis had taken mercy on her, and her coffee would still be warm.

"Hey, G!"

 _Speaking of Travis,_ Cass thought with some amusement. She elected to ignore the greeting though and skipped right to the coffee she located in Travis' hand. She nearly spit it out after the first sip.

"This is not my coffee."

"No, that's mine. This, is your coffee," Travis said.

He pushed the cup in his other hand towards her with a grin. Grabbing her black coffee from Travis with a glare, she stalked towards the door. Cass chose to ignore the eye roll that Travis sent her.

"What's the job?" She asked quickly.

"No 'good morning Travis? Nice to see you Travis. How's your day been Travis?" She gave him a flat stare out of the corner of her eye. Travis gave an exaggerated sigh.

"I'll tell you when we get to the warehouse." Cass paused for a moment.

"This is so big you have to wait till we get to the warehouse?" She questioned, skillfully ignoring the glares she received from pedestrians around for her sudden stop. Trav gave another sigh. Cass absently noticed that it was becoming a habit of his.

"Yes. It is." With that he gently grabbed her elbow and pushed her forwards through the morning New York traffic. Reaching a corner several streets down from Cass's apartment, he stepped towards the curb. One sharp whistle latter and a bright yellow taxi was pulled in front of them. He opened the door and gestured for Cass to get in.

"Ladies first," he teased. Cassandra rolled her eyes and climbed into the taxi. It wasn't until after he had climbed in and given an address to the cab driver did she giver her retort.

"It is a good thing someone is not considered a lady based on their scream," she smirked, "or you would most defiantly be considered one."

This time, Trav was the one glaring.

"It was one time! And you would have screamed too!" He exclaimed while pointing a finger at her.

"I was there, Travis. I did not scream at the sight of a mouse."

"It wasn't a mouse, G! It was a full size mutant rat! I'm telling you, there's something in those sewers!" He sputtered.

"Right," Cass drew out the i, "and I'm secretly a superhero." Travis laughed and played along.

"You never know! You could be a superhero working deep undercover to infiltrate a terrorist organization."

"I am obviously very bad at it. I just blew my cover."

"No, you did the opposite. You just assured your cover as a superhero hating assassin."

She didn't bother to reply. Though, Cass was very glad that the glass separating the cab driver and the passengers was soundproof. She did not need another body added to her list this early in the morning. Surprisingly, Travis was quiet the rest of the ride. Either this job was bigger than she thought, or Trav knew her better than she thought. Neither were favorable options. Still, Cassandra enjoyed the quiet while it lasted. It would end soon. In fact, the moment they reached the warehouse on the outskirts of the city, Travis started talking full speed.

"Okay, so this job is a little more complicated than usual." Travis gestured with his index and thumb fingers slightly apart. He quickly entered the entrance code and stepped inside, walking backwards so he could still talk to Cass.

"How is it more complicated?"

"We don't have a name. Well, that's not true. We have a name, but it's not a name you're going to be able to use."

"What do you mean?" Travis ignored her. Moving over to their briefing table, he quickly brought it to life by sliding his hand across it. Instantly various files popped up.

"Okay. Don't need you," he swiped a file off the screen. "Or you, or you," Travis mumbled under his breath as he repeated the action.

"Travis," Cass stressed his name.

"Yeah hold on, just a minute! This thing needs a clean-up. Ah-ha! Here it is!" Travis flicked the file up, so it was projected as a hologram above the table.

"This is our target." Cassandra stepped closer to the table to get a better look at the picture. It was a little blurry – taken from a cellphone, but she could still make out the dark cowl and cape that covered the tall figure.

"You're kidding, right?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow. Travis briefly wondered if Cass practiced that look in the mirror, or if she just gave it to him enough that she had the look down to a T.

"Um, no. Unfortunately I am not kidding."

"We're supposed to kill Batman! The Batman!" She stated more than questioned.

"Actually, no. We're supposed to get his secret identity." That got Cassandra's attention. Her head had snapped from the file to look at Travis was a genuine look of surprise upon her face.

"How are we going to get The Batman's secret identity, Travis? We're contract killers! Well, I am. You're, you. But my point remains that we are not detectives!" Cass's voice echoed off the warehouse walls as she yelled.

"That's why this is so complicated. Any ideas, G?" She sighed and shook her head.

"None yet. First though, what do we have on him?"

"We have practically nothing. We know his alias, the fact that he resides in Gotham, that he's part of the Justice League, and that he is a bada**." Cassandra shook her head again. This mission was insane.

"Please tell me you didn't accept this job." Travis rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, yeah. I kinda did." He took a deep breath before quickly continuing. "Butonlybecausewe'regettingpaidhalfupfrontandtheonlydownsideisthatwedon'tgetpaidtheotherhalfifwedon'tcompleatethejob'causethesepeoplearen'tcompletephycos."

"Say that again, slowly please." Grimacing, Trav tried again.

"I only took the job because we're getting paid half up front and the only downside is that we don't get paid the other half if we don't complete the job 'cause these people aren't complete psychos."

"What if Batman finds out who we are, Travis?" Cassandra spoke slowly, as if to a child, and glared at him.

"He won't! You're too good for that!"

"In case you haven't noticed Travis, but my features are kinda recognizable!" She gestured towards her face and hair.

"So? You already have the colored contacts; we'll just dye your hair too. Plus it's not like you'll be going out with nothing coving your face. You do have a uniform you could wear once in a while."

"I hate your logic."

"I'm aware. Now go grab your go bag. Our plane leaves in an hour and a half." Cassandra spun around and headed for the kitchen. Grabbing her go bag from one of the cabinets, she stalked towards the door with a scowl on her face.

 _This is going to end badly. I just know it.  
_

 **And there is chapter one! Okay, my grammar is not the best, so if you see something call me on it. I'll try to get it fixed. The same goes with plot holes. Now, since I have this story completely done already I'll try and update once a week. :)**

 **-Echo**


	2. Chapter 2

Contrary to what Cassandra believed. They arrived in Gotham with no problem. She had safe houses in most major cities around the United States since it was the country where she most resided, which included a fully stocked armory so airport security wasn't a big deal. Gotham was also very convenient if trying to disappear or get in touch with a contact. On the flight over, she and Travis had managed to come up with a first step. They were going to tail Batman. It wasn't a very sound plan, but it was the best the two could come up with at the time. Currently, Cassandra was using her shower to finish dyeing her hair. Travis had been right when he suggested it. He, however, was not right when picking out the color. Cass knew she shouldn't have let him go shopping. Now hair normally white hair was a bright red. Way too eye catching. She'd decided though, that if worst came to worst, her hair was memorable. Cassandra glanced at the time. She had about 50 minutes to slip into her other persona. She dried her hair and quickly twisted it into a plait that put it close to her head. She quickly moved out to the bedroom and stepped into her closet. Pushing several dresses to the side revealed frosted glass. One hand scan later and the glass slid apart to reveal her uniform sitting on a mannequin. It consisted of a black leather jacket and hood, black cargo pants, dark red, knee high, combat boots, the same shade fingerless gloves, and multiple utility belts that crossed over her hips and legs – also red. Other than that, there were no distinguishable markers. It made her harder to track down. Also, since Cassandra was paranoid, the entire thing was bullet proof. With every piece of her costume she slipped on, another piece of her persona slipped into place. By the time she was done getting dressed, Ghost had taken her place. In the ten minutes she had left, G quickly filled her utility belts with anything she thought she might need, and clipped her dual katanas over her back. By the time G was done, Travis was just starting to knock on her door. She smoothly opened it to see him standing there with a smirk.

"You're forgetting something." He held out a red, half mask for her. G quickly slipped it on, relishing in the comfortable feel of the upper half of her face being covered. She nodded at him before moving past.

"I'm ready. You stay here and keep an eye on things from your computer." Her voice was cold. Emotionless.

"Aye-aye cap'in!"

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated." Travis rolled his eyes and chose not to reply to the remark. Instead, he moved towards the middle of the living room and plopped down on the couch in front of the TV. Without another word between the two, G pulled open the window and jumped.

It was two hours later when they finally got a lead. Travis had been chattering in her ear for that time with different crimes in progress. By the time that Ghost had gotten there though, Batman had already left. G cursed the fact that she couldn't fly or didn't have a grapple gun. She had to rely on roof jumping. And that was far slower than the Bat's method of transportation. If he had stayed on the ground that night, she would have been fine. But no, the Bat just had to make things difficult. Finally though, it looked like he had stopped for a minute. He stood on the roof next to hers and she had to resist the urge to get closer.  
Suddenly, without turning towards her he called out,

"I know you're there." G's eyes narrowed. Running different scenarios through her head, she decided to play dumb for now. There was a chance he was bluffing. Batman turned around and looked directly at her hiding place.

"I know you've been following me for the past hour and a half." Knowing she was caught, Ghost slipped out of the shadows and towards him. Her boots didn't make a sound and she vaulted over the small gap and landed on the other roof. She stood up from her crouch and watched him warily.

"How'd you know?" G had often followed people without them knowing, and the fact that Batman had caught her said a lot. She also wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to learn a thing or two. Even if it was from a hero.

"Instinct. Plus I caught sight of you a few times at multiple different crime scenes." Ghost nodded. She would keep it in mind for next time. Looking at Batman, G could see why he terrified criminals. His cowl covered most of his face, and the white lenses that covered his eyes weren't exactly reassuring. They blocked off all emotion. To most, that was terrifying. To her, it just showed that Batman did have emotions to hide. At least, that was her current hypothesis. The Bat broke G out of her internal assessment by stepping closer. Instantly she straightened and refocused on his movements. She was so focused on his potential attacks that she almost missed the question in her ear.

 _"How are things going out there, G?"_ Her finger twitched in annoyance. She had forgotten about Travis. She elected to ignore him for now. It wouldn't do any good to make the Bat aware of her partner.

"Who trained you?" The question from the black mass several feet away came as a surprise. Wondering where he was going with this, Ghost kept quiet.

"You've obviously been trained. Assassin training most likely given the silent way you move, and the katanas on your back. You're also young. Probably still in your teens, though you could be in your early twenties. So I repeat. Who trained you?" Ghost tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Why would you like to know? And why would I tell you?" The Bat nodded as if expecting this.

"Fair enough. Can I know the name of the person trying to kill me though?"

"Can I know your name? That would make things a lot easier," G shot back. Surprisingly, Batman looked like he wanted to smirk.

 _"G! Can you hear me?"_ Ghost's hand twitched again. She resisted the urge to bark that she could in fact hear Trav she was just in the middle of something before ripping the com unit out. Unfortunately though, she had enough restraint and common sense not to. Her focus was again drawn to the Bat when he suddenly took another step towards her. G slid her leg back slightly and tensed, clearly portraying the idea: _You take another step and I attack_. Recognizing the move for what it was Batman lifted his hands in the air slightly. The com in her ear went off again. This time, it didn't stop. Travis just kept chattering in her ear with no idea of any possible consequences. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she finally gave up with keeping Travis's existence a secret and put a hand to her ear.

"Circuit. Shut. Up." Ghost bit the words into three separate pieces.

 _"Oh! So you can hear me! I was starting to won-."_ She tore out the com mid sentence and pocketed it. She could practically see the Bat's eyebrow raised as he observed.

 _Time to wrap this up._ G thought with a small frown.

"It looks like I need to go. Last chance to answer my questions if you want the answers to yours." She pushed herself off the wall and headed towards the fire escape.

"Tempting, but I think I'll pass this time. Say 'hi' to your partner for me. I doubt they'll be happy with you for taking out your com." She shrugged.

"Your loss. I somehow doubt that they'd like a 'hello' from you of all people," there was a pause as several sirens sounded below. "You might want to get that rather than following me." With that she climbed her way down the fire escape and disappeared on the streets.

By the time she got back to their base, Travis was waiting for her. And he was not happy. Trav stood in the middle of the living room with his arms crossed, brow furrowed, and a glare on his face. G had no sooner slipped through the window did he let her have it.

"What the h**! You do not ignore me for almost fifteen minutes and worry me before finally responding! For a second I was relieved! But then you don't reply again and your com is turned off!" He goes to continue, but Cass stops him. With a tired voice she explains;

"I ran into Batman. I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you. I will tell you more when I get out of this thing." She gestures at her costume. Travis just gives a deep sigh and a nod. She quietly moves past him and into one of the bedrooms. Fifteen minutes later and Cass emerges from the bedroom freshly showered and in a pair of comfortable sweats and a loose t-shirt.

"Trav?" She called.

"In the kitchen!" Cassandra tilted her head to the side slightly as she slipped into the kitchen. Travis didn't usually cook. Judging by the beeps emanating from said room, she concluded that he was microwaving something.

 _That explains it._

Cass was still surprised when she stepped into the kitchen only to have a plate shoved towards her. She grabbed it on instinct before actually examining what was on it. A blue takeout tray was placed on top, with dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, some corn, and a package of fruit gummies. She looked at the tray again.

"Is this a _Kidz Cuisine_ meal?" She asked incredulously.

"Yes. Yes it is. Deal with it." Cass eyed the meal again.

"With dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets?"

"You need some cheer in your life."

"I'm plenty cheerful!" Travis gave a bark of laughter.

"You are not! You act like Scrooge at Christmas, only in this version it's Christmas all year!" Cassandra gasped in mock outrage. She even went so far as to place a hand over her heart.

"I am nothing like a grumpy old man!" Trav smiled as he came and sat with her at the kitchen island.

"You are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!" Cass shook her head, realizing that she would not win this one. They continued in silence for a minute before Cass's giggles broke through. Travis looked up from his meal with alarm on his face. At the sight of his face, Cass just laughed harder. Suddenly they were both on the kitchen floor laughing till their sides hurt at nothing in particular. She gave him a light punch on the shoulder when they finally calmed down enough to breath.

"Aren't you going to ask how things with the Bat went?"

"Ah, I probably should. Shouldn't I?"

"That is what a partner in crime does. Aren't you a little worried that I led the Bat to our secret lair!" Travis snorted.

"Nah. You're too good for that."

"Hmm, maybe." Travis stared at her for a minute.

"What? Why are you staring at me?"

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened?" He burst out.

"You just said you don't want to know!"

"No! I said that I wasn't worried you led the Bat to our secret lair!" Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'm sorry. How silly of me. Would you like me to recount what happened with the Bat Travis?"

"Yes. Yes I would!" She gave a dramatic sigh.

"Fine, let's do this somewhere more comfortable than the kitchen floor though." Travis acknowledged her request as they relocated to the living room couch. Cass flopped herself down over the couch and stretched out while Trav took one of the armchairs by her feet.

"So what did happen?" He was leaning slightly forward in interest, with his elbows resting on his knees. Seeing that she had his full attention, Cassandra started.

"When I arrived at the spot you told me, the Bat was just starting to move again. I managed to follow him this time with a lot less trouble. Eventually he stopped on a roof not far from the crime. I hid, he called me out." She went to continue, but Travis stopped her.

"Wait. He knew?"

"Yeah, for an hour and a half. He must have gotten annoyed and decided to try and find out what I wanted. Now let me continue. We chatted about some inconsequential things," she held up a hand to stop Trav as he opened his mouth. "It was mostly him asking questions and me responding sarcastically. Interrupt again and I won't tell you a thing." After waiting for his nod Cass continued. "You weren't helping me concentrate with your constant yapping in my ear. I would have replied by I didn't want Batman to know about you. I kinda had to though when you started with a continuous stream of talking at which point I politely tried to tell you to shut up, but you continued talking!" At this point Cass was almost rushing through her sentences. "So yes, I took the ear piece out because I had to focus on Batman. I didn't want to end up in Belle Rev! I also didn't want him to know about you because if this goes south, which it likely will, then you would still be safe." She looked at the ground. "You're like my brother Travis." Cass looked up at him again. "I don't want anything to happen to you." His eyes had softened as she spoke and by now all his anger had been forgotten. Not knowing what to say, Trav moved forwards and scooped Cass into a hug. After a small flinch at the sudden movement, she sat frozen not sure what to do. After a second she returned it just as fiercely.

"You're like a sister to me too." Cass had to push down the tears that threatened to overflow. She had been told time and time again that tears were a weakness. She loosed her hold and gently pushed him back as he loosened as well. Giving him a little smirk she said, "This is getting a little too mushy for me."

He gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, alright. Anything else happen?" Cass shook her head.

"No. But I do have something I want to talk to you about." He quirked a brow. "I want you to leave Gotham."

"Wait what!" he exclaimed. "There is no way I'm leaving right now!"

"Just hear me out. I have a feeling that this is going to go south real quick. I don't want you anywhere near here when it does. Batman already knows about you and if he decided to go after you, then you have a chance to disappear."

"I don't care if I have a chance to disappear! I'm not going to leave you to fight for yourself! Your uncle did that plenty!" Cassandra swallowed down the anger that bubbled up at the mention of her uncle and tried to think of a way to convince Travis to leave. Coming up short of any ideas, she settled with simple.

"Please, Travis. Please go to some other city. Take another job. You can call to check up every once in a while. I know you can set up calls that aren't traceable." Seeing that Cassandra wouldn't give this up, Trav gave a long sigh.

"Okay. I will. We'll call every other day, okay?" Cass's shoulders sagged in relief.

"Okay. When are you going to leave?" Travis looked down at the ground for a moment before grabbing his cell phone off the coffee table. He scrolled through something for a minute before looking back up.

"I just booked a flight to Star City tomorrow. I have a possible job lined up, it's a simple hack but it would give me an excuse to get out of the city." Cass nodded.

"That sounds good. I have a safe house there too. I'll give you the key to the locker just before you leave tomorrow; it has the entrance code inside it."

"Alright. We should get some sleep." Cass nodded in agreement and stood up. She moved towards her bedroom but was stopped by Travis grabbing her elbow.

"I'll leave, but I'm going to come back for two reasons. One, you call me back. Two, you end up in the hospital. I don't care if the Batman is in the same room, but I will keep an eye out and if you end up in the hospital I will show up. Alright?" Cass looked him in the eyes and noticed the sincerity they held. Unable to say anything she just nodded.

"Goodnight, Cass."

"Goodnight, Travis."


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning found Travis and Cassandra hugging tightly in an airport terminal.

"Here's the key to my locker at the Star City central train station." She pushed the key into his hand. "And here's a map of the city." She pushed that into his other hand. "Don't forget to call. I'll pick up no matter what. Even if I'm bleeding to death or caught by our resident crime fighter," she joked.

"Please don't joke about that."

"Alright, I won't. It's still true though." Cassandra pulled in a deep breath and slowly pushed it out through her nose. They were both standing in awkward silence. Her looking everywhere but Trav and him just watching her. It was as if he was trying to memorize her face before he left. "I meant what I said last night, you know." Cass stated out of the blue. She was finally looking at him.

"I know. I meant what I said in response." The intercom crackled above them.

 _"Calling all passengers for the flight from Gotham to Star City, please begin boarding at gate three."_

"Well, I guess this is it." Travis stated.

"I will see you again. Worst comes to worst I get the h*** out of dodge and we only get paid half. No biggie." Her hands hovered over him for a second, brushing off imaginary lint or straightening his jacket collar. Trav grabbed them.

"Relax. Stop worrying. I should be the one worried about you, not the other way around." Cass sighed. Sometimes Travis knew her too well, though she wasn't really hiding her anxiousness.

"Alright. I'll see you in Tokyo, yeah?" She started their traditional goodbye joke which referenced the first two cities they met in.

"Only if you can catch me in London," Trav smirked. Immediately any worry she had switched to annoyance. This boy knew just how to push her buttons. The worry returned though when he turned around to board his plane. Travis looked back once and waved. With a small but genuine smile, Cass waved back. Only once she could no longer see the familiar mop of blonde hair and raggedy sweatshirt did she turn around. It was time to get back to work.

 _But first, coffee. I wonder if there are any good cafes near here. I also need to grab some milk before I head back to the flat, and other basic grocery needs. Everything I have is frozen. But coffee is still the higher priority right now._

With those thoughts, Cass quickly headed outside and grabbed one of taxis waiting outside the airport.

"Where to Miss?" The cabbie asked.

"The nearest coffee shop please."

"Okay."

The cab driver didn't say another word as they traveled through the city, for which Cass was grateful. She was too worked up right now to make some decent conversation. It wasn't like she and Travis hadn't split up for a job before, but for some reason this time it was so much harder. Maybe it was because of their touchy-feely moment last night, but she was more inclined to believe that something was going to happen. Something big. Something that Cassandra had to deal with on her own.

"Hey, you gonna get out or what? I've been callin' your name for a minute now." The cabbie declared.

"Oh! I'm sorry." She paid the man and climbed out of the taxi.

In front of Cass was a cute little coffee shop-slash-café with large windows and outdoor tables. The name on the windows read _Kate's Coffee_ in curly script. Cass pushed open the door and stepped into the shop. She noticed that it was a decent size, big enough to accommodate the crowd of hipsters while still providing the comfortable atmosphere that coffee shops were known for. This was a place Cass could see herself spending a lot of time at. She moved towards the counter to order a simple black coffee with a small bagel. Her order was quickly served up and she took a seat in one of the booths on the side. Cass simply enjoyed her coffee and breakfast for a few minutes before she was rudely interrupted.

"Mind if I sit here?" The question was posed by a smiling red head. Cass took quick stock of him, noting the blue eyes and the relaxed posture as he leaned against the booth. It took a minute for her to realize that he was still waiting for an answer.

"Um, sure." She went back to her coffee and bagel wondering why in the word this guy had decided to sit across from her when there were plenty of other seats around.

"My name's Roy. Roy Harper." She looked at him.

"That's nice." There was an awkward pause as Cass considered what to say next.

"And yours is?" Roy had a smirk on his face as he asked the question.

"Oh! Oh, my name's Cassandra Blake. Most people just call me Cass."

 _Man, my social skills are rusty. How do I have full conversations with Travis?_

Cass tried to continue the conversation but Roy jumped in before she could think of anything.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" She shrugged and looked sheepishly at him.

"More like I don't socialize very often, and coffee is currently more important to me than a conversation. Sorry." Roy managed to take her by surprise though when he laughed.

"I get it, coffee's pretty important to me too. Though all food is." Cass reflected that this was a very awkward conversation, though Roy seemed perfectly fine with it. For a moment she considered trying to make conversation, but decided to just settle with people watching while sipping her coffee. Roy however, instead of people watching choose to watch just one person. Her. Cass lowered her mug from her face and glanced at him.

"Why are you staring?"

"I'm not staring." That little smirk was back. Cass found it very infuriating.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Not now, but you were."

"Was not."

"Were to."

"Was not."

"Were to."

"Were to."

"Was not. Crap. I walked right into that one." Cass pouted; she was usually very good at those things. Roy just chuckled.

"Hey, I was wondering," he trailed off here.

"Yes?" She pushed.

"You want to get coffee?" Cass's eyes flickered to him and back to the cup in her hand. Seeing what she was looking at, Roy's eyes widened.

"Oh! Well not now! I mean we could – what are you doing?" Roy had trailed off in the middle of his sentence as he noticed Cass guzzling her coffee. She finished after a few seconds and looked at him, then her mug.

"Looks like I'm out of coffee. Want to take me to get better coffee?" She gave him a small, hesitant smile. It took a minute for Roy to register what she was suggesting. When it did, a huge grin took over his face.

"I know just the place." Roy, in truth didn't actually know a place. He was after all, only in Gotham because Ollie had some business there and Roy had tagged along as an excuse to see Dick. (He ignored the facts that he was eight-teen, and didn't get along with Ollie.) But even if he didn't know a place, Dick would. He would just find a time where he could slip Dick a text and get a name and address. Easy.

"Okay, just let me go to the bathroom first." She took a step away before turning back around. "Watch my jacket for me, yeah?" After his reassuring nod, Cass grabbed her purse and headed to the restroom. Once there, she indulged herself in a mini freak out.

 _Okay, I just got asked on a date by a nice looking stranger. Wait. Is this a date? Or is this just a friendly 'get to know you' type thing? I have no idea! Was that flirting? Was I flirting back? I don't do this kind of stuff on the job! Travis is the people person! Travis! I can call Travis! Wait, no I can't! Travis is on a plane! GAH! This is so complicated! Okay, you have one minute to call someone else. Think. Think. ARTEMIS!_

The two girls had met years ago. They had not kept in contact quite as much since Mis switched sides, but they were still close enough that she could ask her for help. Cass quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Mis's number.

 _"Hello?"_

"Mis! It's Cass! I need your help!"

 _"Cass? Are you okay? Where are you, I'll be there soon?"_

"Yeah I'm fine I just have a really important question! If a guys asks to get coffee with you is it a date or is it just a friend thing?" There was a slight pause.

"Is someone dying and this is a code?"

"No! It's an honest question, now please answer it 'cause this guy is waiting out in the coffee shop and I've been in the bathroom freaking out!"

"Okay. Yes, I would consider it a date. We need to brush up your people skills. Tell me all about it later."

"Thank you! I will, I promise!" Not waiting for a reply, Cass quickly pressed the end button and turned off her phone. She stalled for another second by checking her hair before walking out.

"I was starting to wonder if you left through a window," Roy joked when she got back. Cass gave a small laugh and joked back.

"I tried but the window was too small." Roy looked at her for a moment before giving in and smiling.

"Was that a joke? Did you just tell a joke?" At her questioning look Roy raised his hands. "No offense but I just didn't take you as the joking type!"

"Ah."

 _That made sense_

"I can offer a witty comeback every now and then."

"I hope so!" They stood in the café for a few more moments as Cass got into her jacket and scarf.

"So? Where to random stranger that I just met?" Cass paused. "And suddenly this sounds a whole lot more dangerous than it had before." Cass knew she could take care of herself if this guy decided to try anything, but he didn't know that. And she was trying to act a little more normal. Not that she thought she was succeeding.

"Why don't I show you?" Roy offered Cass his arm and pulled her along when she hesitantly slipped her arm through his. He was noticing that Cass hesitated a lot, and also that her social skills were practically nonexistent. It made him wonder why she said she didn't socialize very often. The fact that it was Gotham could mean any number of reasons ranging from a hermit who had a coffee addiction and couldn't make the stuff at home, to a work at home workaholic. There were also some darker, less nice reasons that Cass didn't interact much but Roy didn't want to dwell on the possibilities of those. He led her through the city to a small street vendor, _thank you Dick_ , before bringing her to a secluded park. Again, thanks to Dick. They sat on a bench a small ways away from the path and facing a frozen lake. Cass took a sip of her coffee and moaned.

"This is really, really good coffee." She looked at Roy with a large smile on her face.

 _Note to self,_ Roy thought, _Cass really likes coffee._

They sat on the bench sipping their coffee and chatting about small things for a half hour, like their favorite color and hobbies, before they took notice of the cold.

"We should probably move somewhere warmer." Roy suggested. Cass glanced at the time on her phone.

"Actually, it's almost ten and I have some shopping to do." She looked apologetically at Roy.

"Wait, it's almost ten?" He questioned, looking a little surprised.

"Yeah." She stood up and held a hand out for goodbye. He followed her example and stood up as well.

"I actually have somewhere I need to be as well." He shook her hand briefly, both taking note of how awkward of a goodbye this was. It was only when Cass was several steps away did something dawn on him.

"Hey, wait! Aren't you going to give me your number?"

"Oh! Uh, sure." She quickly rattled the number off as he put it into his phone.

"Thanks. See you around Cass."

"Yeah, uh, you too!" With that they both turned and walked in separate directions and focused on completing their errands.

Later, when Cass was done shopping, found her splayed across the couch completely and utterly bored. Nothing good was on TV and she didn't feel like watching any of the DVDs she had available. They were no fun to watch alone anyways. Wait. Artemis lived in Gotham, right? Cass checked the time. About four o'clock. Mis would be done with school by now. Without another thought she quickly shot up, grabbed her jacket, purse, and cell phone. She paused for a minute to re-strap a few knives to her ankle and hide some more in her boots before bouncing out the door. After a moments thought about Mis's possible locations, Cassandra decided to try her house first. Thankfully it was only a fifteen minute walk away, so she had no reason to call a taxi. When she arrived, Cass wasted no time to knock on the door. One long, three short, a small pause, and two short knocks later Artemis was opening the door. A very surprised Artemis.

"Mis! Hope I'm not crashing something!" Mis quickly got over her shock and opened the door a little wider for her friend.

"No! 'Course not! Come on in!"

"Artemis? Who's at the door?" Paula's voice rang throughout the small apartment and a second later she was wheeling herself around the corner and towards the pair.

"Cassandra! How lovely to see you!" The two exchanged a brief hug.

"It's lovely to see you too Ms. Paula. I was wondering if I could borrow Mis for a little while."

"Oh, of course! Just come over for dinner tonight, yeah?" Cass hesitated. Dinner might cut into her work time, but she could make an exception tonight.

"I'll do my best," she promised.

"Good! Off you two go now! Have fun!" The girls both chorused a confirmation before quickly walking out the door. At some point during Paula's greeting with Cass, Artemis had slipped on a jacket and shoes.

"Right first off," here Artemis gave Cass a light punch on the shoulder, "why didn't you tell me you were in Gotham?" Cass sighed. She had hopped that Mis wouldn't bring that up. The last thing she needed was more lectures about leaving 'the life' behind. She answered truthfully anyways.

"I have a job here. No I won't tell you anything else about it." Not happy with the answer, but knowing she wouldn't get any more out of Cass unless she was drunk, Mis turned onto a new category.

"Fine. Will you at least tell me how your date went?" Cass blushed.

"Um. Good. It went okay. I think." Cass threw her hands in the air. "I have no idea how it went. He asked for my number if it matters at all."

"If it matters? It so matters! That means it went well and he would like to go on another with you!"

"Huh. Who knew?" Cass continued to give Artemis a play by play of the entire date with only minimal interruptions. By the time she was finished Mis knew everything about the date except for the guy's name. And she didn't know that only because Cass knew the moment she had his name, Mis would find someway to do a full background check in order to make sure the guy didn't hurt her. And if things happened to go south, Cass really didn't want Artemis to put his name on her mental hit list. Cass was sure that even if she was one of the 'good guys' now, that Artemis still had such a list. She was just less likely to act on it. They reached Cass's safe house shortly after the play by play finished. After taking the elevator up to the top floor and a brief argument about the benefits of cheesy elevator music (don't ask), they reached her front door. Another brief argument about which movie/TV show they would watch ensued when they stepped into the living room. Mis was all for Star Trek, but Cass really wanted to watch Sherlock. Eventually Mis won, 'cause Cass was a sucker and didn't want to have a real argument about something so silly with her best friend. So Mis was setting up the movie and Cass was making popcorn when Cass's phone rang. It was in the living room and before she could get to it Mis was already answering for her.

"Hello this is Gotham's Asylum for the Criminally Insane, how can I help you today?" Artemis fought off Cassandra's attempts to grab the phone from her.

 _"Um. I'm looking for Cassandra. Is she there?"_

"Yes Cass is a resident here would you like to know the standard visiting hou- Ompf!" Growing impatient Cass had elbowed Artemis in the stomach and grabbed the phone from her.

"Hello, this is Cass speaking. Please ignore all things previously said by my best friend; she won't be saying them for much longer." Cass glared at Mis, who just shrugged and walked out to finish making the popcorn. There was a chuckle on the end of the line. A very familiar chuckle, Cass noted.

 _"It's Roy; for a moment there I was worried I had the wrong number."_ Cass laughed.

"Nope, my friend just got a hold of my phone first. I imagine you called for a reason. What's up?"

 _"Actually I was wondering if you're free this Friday. There's this new movie coming out I thought you'd like to see it."_

"Um Friday? Yeah, I think that'll work. What time and where?" She ignored Mis's frantic motions for her to put the phone on speaker.

 _"Say seven at the Greendale Cinema?"_

"Seven, Greendale Cinema," she confirmed. "Hey, I hate to do this but I better get off before my friend eats all the popcorn. I'll see you Friday!" Before he could reply she hung up.

"So?" Mis prompted.

"So, what?" She gave a dramatic sigh and eye roll.

"What's going on between you and mystery guy Friday at seven? And why does his voice sound familiar?" She mumbled that last part to herself, but Cass still heard it. She hoped that Mis was just making connections where there were none, because Mis knowing her potential boyfriend was the last thing she needed.

"We're going to watch a movie at the Cinema." Cass stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She had, after all, mentioned Friday at seven and the Greendale Cinema while Mis was present. Artemis either didn't notice her tone or (more likely) just choose to ignore it.

"Right, I'll be here at five to help you get ready."

"Why do you need to help me get ready?" Artemis looked at her with a flat stare.

"You had to call me to ask if a guy asking to get coffee with you was a date, while I was at school I might add. I can also almost guarantee that you did not think that the movies equaled a date. And lastly, I bet you hung up without saying goodbye."

"I. What? How do you know that but don't know that he called to invite me to go see a movie with him Friday at seven?" Mis shrugged.

"Selective hearing. Plus I wanted you to tell me so I could accurately tell what you thought." Cass grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"I have zero social capabilities, Mis. Zero." She nodded.

"We'll work on that. You just haven't had a reason to be social with anyone other than me or Trav in a while. You'll get the hang of it. For now though, we have a movie to watch before we head for dinner at my place." Cass tilted her head a little.

"Is that your way of politely telling me to shut up."

"Yes, now shut up and watch the movie."

 **Okay, and that is chapter three! Thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favorites! They make my day!**

 **Reviews = happy writer = possible earlier updates/longer chapters.**

 **Rockabilie123: Thank you so much for the review! It was the first one that actually made sense! :) I'm glad you love the dialog, it's something I struggle with a bit.**


	4. Chapter 4

That night Ghost was out attempting to follow Batman again when her phone vibrated. Giving a huff she pulled it out and answered, the brief second she had been distracted with the phone had been enough for Batman to get away. Again.

"Hello who is this calling?"

 _"G? It's Trav."_ Since she was deep in her Ghost persona, she didn't smile, but it was a close thing. Considering this night a loss she went through the routine of making sure that the Bat hadn't flipped the table and was following her on her way home.

"Hey Circ I'm headed home now, can I call you back?"

 _"Sounds good. Don't lead the Bat to our secret base."_

"I won't." G gave her customary hang up.

Suddenly realizing that the Bat was indeed trying to follow her home, she gave a small smirk. Without turning to face him she deepened her voice and mocked,

"I know you're there."

She did turn around though when she heard him land on the roof.

"Decided to tell me your name yet?" She questioned.

"Only if you tell me who you work for and who trained you." G gave a small snort.

"Keep dreaming." The Bat walked steadily around her to another side of the building.

"We could do this the hard way." He suggested. Ghost hummed.

"We could, but I really don't feel like doing that right now. I know I'll just end up with more bruises than I'd like. Maybe next time."

Batman almost wanted to smirk. This girl was interesting, and surprisingly to himself he found himself genuinely curious about her. (If he dug down real deep he could feel a little worry there too, but that wasn't possible because he only felt worry like this for Robin, Alfred, and very small amounts for the team. Not cold blooded assassins who were trying to kill him.)

"I looked you up, Ghost." G was fairly impressed, though she knew that what the Batman could have would not be much. At most he had her alias, a general description of her skills, and jobs that she had possibly pulled off. The world called her Ghost for a reason, after all. Circuit was also very good at hiding things he wanted to. The fact that he looked her up though did not surprise her.

"Am I supposed to be surprised?"

"I didn't think you would be." He looked like he was going to say more before he suddenly cut himself off and put a hand to his ear.

"Yes Robin?" It took G less than a second to put two and two together. Batman was talking to Robin over a com. There was a silence as he listened.

"I'll be there." After ending the call, the Bat turned back to her.

"Does yours keep chattering in your ear when you're in the middle of something?" She referenced Circs call from the other night.

"Not usually." He turned to leave and assist with whatever the little bird needed but stopped when G called out, not being able to resist the chance to mock the Bat again.

"Say 'hi' to your partner for me." With that she took off across the roofs as Batman took out his grappler. Like last night, she would still make sure he didn't follow her home. Circuit would be going crazy by the time she got back, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

As it turned out, it was an extra hour and a half before she got back to her safe house. Cass shrugged off her gear while simultaneously dialing Trav. It was close to midnight in Gotham, which meant it was about two in the morning in Star. It didn't matter though; Trav picked up on the first ring.

 _"I take it something went either horribly wrong or exceptionally great, and going by your track record I'm going to say it was the former."_

"Oh Travis, ye of little faith. It was actually kind of neutral on the disaster scale."

 _"Are you going to fill me in?"_

"Perhaps. Tell me about your day first, and then I'll tell you mine." She heard a long suffering sigh on the other end.

 _"Absolutely nothing interesting. The job was a bust, the customer backed out last second. And I still hate flying. Now tell me about your day."_

"There's not much to tell either. After you left I went on a date, reconnected with Artemis, and had another conversation with Batman." She waited for the explosion that Trav was guaranteed to have. Cass wasn't disappointed.

 _"You went on a date!"_ He yelled.

"Really? Out of all that you're shocked over the fact that I went on a date?"

 _"You don't socialize unless you're in your Ghost persona. And even then it's hit and miss."_ Cass snorted.

"Thanks for the confidence boost."

 _"No problem. You said you reconnected with Mis? How'd that go?"_ Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief as Trav decided to leave the dating topic alone for now. She had no doubt that he'd want Roy's info so that he could do a thorough background check later.

"Better than I thought it would. I called her from a coffee shop bathroom during my mini freak out because I needed to know if coffee would be considered a date and then I showed up at her door step hours later. We watched Star Trek and then went back to her house for dinner with Ms. Paula. All in all, I had a very lovely day." She paused. "Well as lovely as I could without my partner here."

 _"It was your idea to send me away to Star City."_

"I know, and I don't regret it."

 _"I should get some sleep Cass. You should too as a matter of fact."_

"Okay." She hung up and tossed the phone towards the couch.

 _Da**. Didn't Artemis say I needed to stop hanging up on people?_

She shrugged and after a large yawn decided that Trav was right. Sleep would be good. She collapsed on the bed.

 _Yeah. Sleep is good._

It was Thursday morning and after her second cup of coffee did she come up with a brilliant idea. Robin. The answer to her Batman problem was Robin. The Bat had turned his back and left because Robin called for him. So, there was a chance that if the little bird's life was threatened the Bat would reveal his name. Almost as quickly as she came up with the idea did she throw it out again. The Bat would never reveal his secret ID to her, even if Robin's life was on the line. He was the Batman for crying out loud. He'd probably free Robin and throw her in a cozy little cell with no trouble. The only advantage she had when they met up on the rooftops was that Batman didn't know how she fought, she could make a quick escape, and the Bat was curious about her. Cass realized that there was no way she was going to get the Bat's secret identity, she was not motivated enough to risk her life for some more money. She had plenty of that. Cass would just have to tell Travis that she wouldn't be able to complete the job. She'd tell him after Friday, of course. Maybe Saturday or, even better, Tuesday. That would give Cass plenty of time to enjoy her date with Roy, some more time with Mis, and even be able to squeeze some shopping in. A part of her though, realized that she didn't want to leave Gotham. Cassandra pondered this idea as she cleaned the apartment. She could relocate base here to Gotham, or just outside it. It would be more dangerous being in the same city as the Bat, but she was almost willing to risk it. She put it on her list of things to talk to Trav about. Today though, Cassandra was going shopping. She needed an outfit to wear for her date with Roy. She grabbed her purse and walked out the door.

Cass re-entered her home close to three hours later with arms full of shopping bags. Okay. Maybe she had a shopaholic problem. A tiny one. But she needed the options to show Mis when she came to help pick her outfit. What fun would it be if she only had one outfit to ask for advice on? Although a major part of Mis helping her get ready would be the two of them trying on the purchases. It was a tradition the pair of girls had. They would try on any of the clothes Cass bought and see if they liked it. If they did, they kept it. It saved Mis the trouble and torture of shopping, and some money on the side. Cass shoved the bags into her walk in closet. She gave a little start as _Blonde_ by Bridget Mendler blared out of her phone.

"Hey Mis! What's up?"

 _"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm so bored, Cass! Plus I need someone to vent to about the privileged rich kids at my school."_

Cass gave a laugh.

"You can come on over. I just pulled in a new haul, you can vent while looking fabulous!"

 _"You sound like a friend of mine."_

"A good friend I hope."

 _"A naïve friend."_ She deadpanned.

"Mis. I am not naïve, I just act like it. Now hurry!" Cass ended the call and quickly started pulling tags off of things. No matter what Artemis liked, she would not accept any of the clothes that were offered to her if she knew their true prices. Cassandra had just finished throwing the last tag in the garbage can when there was a polite knock on the door. Well, to clarify, there was one long knock, three short knocks, a small pause, and two short knocks in a sequential order. It was the same pattern the two girls used to use as children when knocking on the other's window at the middle of the night. They had kept the pattern when instead of knocking on windows; they grew old enough to knock on doors. Cass quickly rushed to the door and after briefly checking through the peep hole to double check it was Artemis, she flung it open.

"That was quick!" Mis shrugged.

"I was on my way while I was still on the phone with you."

"Wow? Really? You must have been confidant that I was home."

"If you weren't do you really think I would care?" Cass shrugged.

"I guess not. Come on in." Artemis stepped lightly through the door and made her way towards the living room. Cass went to grab the bags from her closet, leaving Mis in the living room. When she came back, she was surprised to find Artemis looking through the file on her tablet. Her lips were pursed when she looked up.

"What's this?" Her voice was calm and her face was carefully blank. Cass sighed.

"I had hoped you wouldn't find out." She started. "That's my job while I'm in Gotham." Mis's eyes narrowed.

"Your job?" She yelled and gestured wildly at the screen she held. "Your job is to kill the mentor of a friend of mine!"

"No! Not kill! Whoever hired me just wanted me to find out his secret identity. They paid half up front, and I get the other half if I complete it. No other strings."

"So? You tell them who Batman is and it doesn't matter if you pull the trigger or not! They'll have him killed either way!" Artemis was getting worked up now. She was starting to pace. Before Mis could continue on her rant, Cass jumped in.

"Sit down, Mis." She had said it coolly, and both girls could tell it was more of an order than a suggestion. It was only after Artemis complied that she continued.

"I don't think I'm going to go through with it. There isn't a way I can find that would allow me to get the Bat's identity without compromising myself. I probably could if I really wanted to, but I don't really care about this job. Frankly, it's insane and I don't like the idea of a cell in Belle Rev. Okay?" All tension that Artemis's shoulders previously held had vanished as Cass explained.

"Have you told Travis yet?" Cass winced.

"Not yet. I plan to tell him Tuesday, along with discussing some… other things."

"What kinds of 'other things'?" Cass took a deep breath. This get together was not going the way she had wanted it to.

"I think I might stay in Gotham."

"You know that will be risky with Batman and all, right?"

"I know. But, there are things I think I want to stay here for."

"Like what?" Cass looked Mis in the eyes and tried to covey everything she was feeling at the moment. Every inch of familial love she felt.

"My sister." For a moment Artemis was confused, but she saw when the understanding filled her eyes. Much like what Travis had done a couple nights ago, she wrapped Cass in a tight hug. They indulged in several seconds of mushiness before splitting.

"You know," Artemis started. "As your unofficial sister it's my right to know the name of the guy you're dating."A smirk was on her face and she nudged Cass with her shoulder. Cass groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Of course you want to know that. Admit it though, you just want his name so that you can internet stalk him."

"Why else would I care?" Mis teased. Cass rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands.

"Roy Harper." The words came out muffled from behind her hands.

"I'm sorry what was that?" Cass pulled her flaming face out of her hands for long enough to repeat his name before hiding behind them again. Artemis had gone frozen with shock at the name. There was no way. No way that Cassandra Blake had met and gone on a date with Roy Harper in Gotham. What was he even doing in Gotham? She knew Ollie was here, he had stopped by to see her, but Roy? He claimed he didn't even like Ollie anymore (something everyone knew was a lie and just choose to ignore)! Of course there was the other side where Artemis could see Roy and Cass making an awesome couple. She would defiantly appreciate his blunt nature and maybe even tame his temper.

"You know him!" Artemis was snapped out of her thoughts by Cass's accusation. She instantly denied it.

"Of course not! I was just thinking is all!" Cass wasn't buying it though.

"No, no. You defiantly recognized the name, you know him."

"I heard his name on TV once; he is the adopted son of Oliver Queen you know."

"Yeah, I know. But" Mis cut her off with a not so subtle topic change.

"Didn't you say you had gone shopping today?" Cass didn't look pleased at the topic change, and the look she sent her promised that she wouldn't let this go.

"Yeah." She leaned over to the bags that she had dropped beside the couch and held them up. "Where would you like to start?"

After two hours of joking, teasing, endless photos, an excessive amount of ranting about snooty rich kids, and admiring the various outfits they put together, Artemis claimed she had to head home and get some schoolwork done.

"I've got a paper due tomorrow in French, and you know how bad I am at French." Mis declared. Cass nodded. Even though Artemis spoke three different languages fluently, she had never been good at French. It was, unfortunately the only language class in her new school that had an open spot. She would be able to switch to another language when the semester was over but that wasn't for another couple of months.

"I would help you, but you know I'm not that great at French either." Cass had offered. She could pass if she ever got stranded in France. She was nowhere near fluent, though. Artemis smiled.

"It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow at five to help you get ready for your date, yeah?" Cass nodded.

"Sounds good Mis!" Suddenly feeling a little more touchy-feely, she grabbed Mis into a quick hug.

"Be careful, okay?" She whispered into Mis's ear.

"I will." Mis replied. She left without another word and Cass locked the door behind her. She paused briefly while in the kitchen cooking diner and considered going out to stalk Batman again, but eventually decided to stay in. If she was going to quit the job anyway she might as well not waste the man hours. So instead she spent the night cooking, having a very long chat with Travis (carefully avoiding topics such as the job and living in Gotham), and pulling out her old sketch books. She added a sketch of Batman and another of Roy on separate pages. On the back, she wrote down little facts about each. She did this with every sketch. In fact, the whole book she had was just people she had met and what she knew about each of them. There wasn't anything sensitive like Artemis's family ties or Travis's full name, but favorite colors or how they met were the most commonly written. It helped ground herself. It helped keep her focused on the now and helped her remember faces she could no longer see. Sensing that she was about to lead herself down a dangerous trip through her past, Cass quickly slapped shut the sketch book and shoved it in a hat box at the back of her closet. She dusted her hands off, nodded, and headed for bed.

The next day bought little excitement for Cass. Artemis was at Gotham Academy, Travis was busy with something or another, and her date with Roy wasn't until later. She really needed to make more friends. Maybe she should consider enrolling in Gotham U in the near future. The clock ticked away and at two o'clock, Cass came up with the brilliant idea to surprise Artemis at school. Mis was probably getting sick of her, but if she really wanted to be left alone Mis would tell her to back off.

When Artemis walked out of Gotham Academy with her bag slung over her shoulder and tie half done, she was more than a little surprised to see Cass waiting for her. She really shouldn't have been though. Even though Ghost could sit still for hours on end, Cass had a tendency to get bored easily. Mis was just happy that she hadn't blown anything up. She wasn't sure how she would explain that to Batman.

 _Oh yeah, that explosion in downtown Gotham was just my assassin of a best friend. She was bored. Sorry!_ Artemis snorted. Oh yeah, that would go over well. Cass gave a grin as Mis approached her, and Artemis was instantly a little wary. She was right to be wary when Cass suddenly pulled out her phone and snapped a picture.

"Say Gotham Academy!" She cheered.

"I hate you," Mis grouched. Cass ignored the comment.

"You did not tell me you had to wear a uniform!" Mis rolled her eyes and was about to reply something sarcastic about Cass being a genius when she was rudely interrupted by The Freshman. That's right, The Freshman with capitals. Or as he was more commonly known, Dick Grayson. He bounded right up to the pair with questioning look on his face.

"Artemis, who's your friend?" Mis groaned.

"Cass, this is Dick. Dick, this is Cass." Cass surveyed Grayson and shot a look at Mis clearly asking if she was serious. This was the rich kid that got on her nerves all the time? She had heard the story about their first encounter and such, but Cass had always pictured him as more of a nerd with glasses and such. She also had pictured him older. The kid that stood in front of her had to be around twelve or thirteen. Dick had, unfortunately, seen the look Cass sent Artemis.

"Ah, I see she's told you all about me." He held out a hand to shake. "As she said though, I'm Dick. Nice to meet you, Cass." She glanced at his hand and back at Mis then back to his hand again. Giving him an apologetic look she shook her head.

"I don't do physical contact." That wasn't true though. Cass could deal with physical contact (even if she preferred none at all) it was more the fact that she didn't allow skin on skin contact unless it was required. She would normally be fine to shake hands since her fingerless gloves minimized contact so it would only be her fingertips touching his hand, but she had left those at the safe house. She could tell Dick was slightly thrown off by her refusal for physical contact as he slowly lowered his hand to his side.

"Ah. Sorry." He stated awkwardly. She gave him a little smile.

"It's fine; a lot of people do that." Artemis took this as her cue to jump in before she was stuck there any longer.

"Well, now that introductions are over I think we should go." She glanced at Cass. "We wouldn't want you to be late for your date after all."

"Alright, my ride's here anyways. See you Monday Mis!" Grayson took off for a black car that had just pulled up. Artemis couldn't name the model, but she was sure it was expensive. As she led Cass away and back towards her safe house, she reflected on Cass's avoidance of physical contact. For a while she had forgotten that Cass was in fact a Meta with a dangerous gift. Cassandra was a technopath. If she had direct contact with a machine she could interface with it. Like all Meta abilities though, it had its drawbacks. Cass had to know how a machine worked before she could interface with it and it took the same amount of energy from her, as it would to complete the action normally. The biggest drawback though had to do with people. The human body was enough like a machine that Cass could interface with it. She could stop someone's heart with little energy and a loss of control. It didn't help that her Uncle had cultivated this particular talent while she was young in order to turn her into the person she was today. Mis was just glad that Cass had it under control for the most part. It was only when Cass was feeling very strongly about something did her control slip. After all, it would not be awesome to end up paralyzed because she gave her best friend a hug. Both girls were quiet the entire walk back to Cass's safe house. Both were lost in their own thoughts.

"Okay," Artemis declared the moment they got inside. She rubbed her hands together evilly. "We have some work to do."

 **Surprise! I decided to update a little early this week! Thanks to everyone who add this story to their favorites, followed, or reviewed!**


	5. Chapter 5

Artemis spent the next two and a half hours trying to teach Cass how to be a normal teenager. It was not as successful as she had hoped. Cass now had a basic understanding of flirting at least, but other simple things just didn't make sense to her. They had finally decided that if Roy didn't like her social awkwardness, then he wasn't worth her anyways. After that revelation it was already six o'clock and Mis had to get home for dinner. Cass followed Artemis's example and ate a quick meal before disappearing to get ready for her date. She had roughly thirty minutes to get dressed, and do her hair and makeup. After a brief debate about her outfit she finally settled on dark, ripped skinny jeans, a white tank with a military jacket and brown ankle boots with low heels. Her (still currently red) hair was pulled back into an easy ponytail and she touched up some makeup to make her eyes pop while still keeping that natural look. She arrived at the theater right on time and scanned through the crowd inside. She finally spotted Roy's familiar red hair over by the arcade. He was scanning the crown with a slight frown on his face. Cass quickly made her way through the crowd and over to his place against the wall. His frown morphed into a smile when he saw her. It looked like he had already gotten the both of them drinks and popcorn, for which Cass was grateful.

"You look great." The words he spoke took Cass by surprise. She didn't feel great. The lack of coverage and large enough crowd was making her uncomfortable. She went to tell him as much before she remembered Artemis's lessons earlier that day.

 _If he gives you a complement, accept it and give him one back._ Her voice rang inside Cass's head.

"Thanks, so do you. Should we get to that movie?"

"Oh! Yeah, the previews should be starting here soon." He led her through the theater to the door for their movie.

"Big Hero 6?" She questioned curiously.

"Yeah, I prefer comedies, but based on our talk at the park I remembered that you like cartoons. So, I thought you'd like to see this." Touched by his thoughtfulness, and feeling a little impulsive, Cass quickly leaned up on her tip-toes and pecked him on the cheek.

"Thank you." She turned and opened the door. Seeing him still frozen a few feet away she rolled her eyes and sent him a teasing smirk.

"Coming?" He startled out of whatever thoughts he had and quickly followed her through the door and into the quickly darkening theater. It was mostly full of kids and younger teens, but both Cass and Roy enjoyed themselves immensely. They talked about it as he walked her home, neither daunted by the darkness and late hour.

"It was amazing! Who was your favorite character?" Cass questioned with wide eyes. Roy could clearly see her great amount of enthusiasm and made a mental note that cartons were right up by coffee on the list of things she enjoyed. He smiled at her, thankful that her enthusiasm was rubbing off on him.

"I don't know. Probably Fred," he joked. For some reason, Fred reminded him greatly of Wally. He had no idea why though as Wally was way more mature than Fred, even though it was sometime debatable. "Who was yours?" Without hesitation Cass answered.

"Go-go." Surprised (he had thought she would have picked Honey Lemon) he pushed her to explain.

"Why Go-go?" She grinned mischievously at him.

"I like speed." He snorted.

"It sounds like you're talking about a drug!" Roy felt proud of himself when she rewarded that statement with a genuine laugh.

"No! Oh, goodness no! But she could get a smart car to move. That is admirable." This time it was Roy's turn to laugh.

"What do you have against smart cars?" He bumped his shoulder into her. She gapped at him.

"Absolutely everything! The only thing they're good for is parallel parking!"

"Okay, what kinds of cars do you like?" She was about to reply with ' _anything that could go super fast. Like a racecar,'_ when the couple was interrupted by a clicking sound. A very familiar clicking sound to the both of them. They both turned around to fine themselves face to face with a gun and a lowered hood. Roy stepped in front of Cass slightly, much to her surprise. She wasn't used to people thinking they needed to protect her and she had to push down the slight anger that arose because of Roy's actions. He didn't know she didn't need protecting.

"Give me your wallet and your purse." Thinking it wasn't worth the fight, Cass started to pull her purse over her shoulders and was about to give it to the man when Roy stopped her.

"Roy?" She questioned quietly. He didn't answer, and his eyes stayed trained on the gunman.

"Come on now, don't be difficult. I've got better things to do. Now hand them over!" His gruff voice was getting louder and Cass again went to hand him her purse. She was stopped again, but this time it wasn't by Roy. An eerie cackle broke out and suddenly the mugger was being attacked by a black, red, and yellow blur.

 _Wait. Is Robin saving us from a mugging? Talk about irony._ Roy had also realized it was Robin, but instead of losing his previous tension, it switched to slight anger. Had the little bird been following them all night? (There was a chance that he was just on patrol, but Roy wasn't a huge believer in coincidences. He and Robin would be having a little talk later for sure.) He nodded his head slightly at him in silent thanks, gently grabbed Cass's elbow, and started to walk away. They both remained slightly tense until they reached Cass's apartment. Which, despite her normal paranoia, she had decided to show him. She was pretty sure she had something incriminating out though, so she would have to say goodbye at the door. A time that was quickly approaching as they took the elevator up to the highest story. The doors slid open with a small _ding_ and revealed a small hallway with one bright blue door at the end.

"This is me," Cass glanced at Roy. She was slightly taken aback when she found him staring at her like he had been in the coffee shop. She furrowed her eyebrow slightly and her eyes darted around his face trying to determine if something was wrong. Cass was just about to ask him what was up when Roy's lips were suddenly on hers, effectively silencing any questions she had. Taken by surprise she simultaneously pulled back her Meta abilities while blocking a flashback she could feel creeping up. It took another couple of seconds for her to start to kiss back. Suddenly realizing that things were moving way too fast for her comfort, Cass quickly pulled back and raised a hand to stop Roy. The hand wasn't needed though as the moment she started pulling back, he had backed off. She tried to grasp her breath and despite her best efforts, she could feel a panic attack creeping up. She gave a rushed goodnight and quickly unlocked and stepped through it shutting it behind her and leaving Roy stunned in the entranceway of her home. Slightly confused (he'd never had _that_ type of reaction before) he headed back to his hotel and brushed it off as everything being too much too fast for the shy girl. While Roy was making his way home, Cass was dealing with a panic attack on the other side of her door. She had slid down with her back resting against it and her knees cradled to her chest. Cass struggled to pull air into her lungs and her position was not making anything easier. She tried to forcefully pull in a deep breath but ended up choking on it slightly as she let it out. The painful process was repeated for several minutes before Cass was able to loosen up enough to breathe a little easier. It was only when she knew she wasn't in trouble of passing out because of suffocation did she start to analyze what had just happened. Roy had kissed her. Roy had _kissed_ her!

 _This was a bad idea! There are too many reasons why this is a bad idea! Why didn't anyone tell me? I kissed him! I could have killed him! It's happened before! And even if I don't accidently kill him then I could get him killed! Or he could find out I'm a contract killer! Then everything is down the drain anyways!_ Cass ran a hand through her hair. She could stop being a contract killer, but that was all she'd ever known. That was all she had been taught. It was only because of Travis, Artemis, and the need to blend in that she was able to socialize at all! Uncle Remy certainly hadn't cared about whether or not she could socialize or do other things. She didn't think she could be a normal person, and she wasn't brave enough to find out. She supposed she could follow in Artemis's footsteps and become a hero, but she wasn't sure she wanted that. Cass defiantly did not want the judgment when others found out, because they would. Just like they will find out about Artemis. (She normally didn't tell Cass anything about her other life, but she had slipped up once and confessed that her teammates knew next to nothing about her past.) But on the other side, Cass liked Roy. For some reason she found herself unable to give him up, no matter what logic said. She could stay with him until he found out, but she also didn't want to play pretend. She didn't want to put herself through the torture of knowing one wrong step would mean the end. Cass sighed and thunked her head against the door behind her. She would consider everything later, at the moment she was feeling antsy. She logged onto her holotable and scanned to see if Trav had any side jobs she could pull. He usually kept a few times just like this when Cass was feeling antsy and needed to be someone else for a while.

 _Bingo._ There was one right in Gotham, a simple theft from the Gotham Public Museum of Art and History. Apparently there was a famous Rembrandt being displayed as a part of 'art exchange' if you will. The Dutch got one of Gotham's famous pieces for a year, and Gotham got one of the Dutch's famous pieces for a year. It would be a fair trade; if Cass wasn't suddenly interested in stealing it. She spent the next hour surveying the security for the museum. She would usually spend more time casing the place and such, but she really wanted to do something and the museum had surprisingly low security for holding such expensive items in Gotham. Without thinking of a way to talk herself out of it, Cass suited up and made her way towards the museum.

Just as she predicted, it was stupidly easy to steal the painting from Gotham's museum. She would have to remember the weaknesses she found if she ever wanted to add something to her own personal collection. She was in the home stretch when the Bat showed up with his sidekick in tow. See the pair she chuckled and slipped the tube containing the painting over her back so it rested comfortably beside her katanas.

"Well. This is a surprise." She drawled. "I'm really not in the mood though so I'll just be going." Ghost made to move away, but the Bat stepped in front of her path.

"Not so fast. You know we can't let you take that painting, Ghost." She _tsk_ 'ed.

"Ah, that. You know, I would have thought you would have been relieved." The white lenses narrowed slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Robin was slipping towards her back while she was focused on the Bat. She purposefully shifted so that he knew she was keeping her eye on him. Robin made no further move to sneak around her. Ignoring hers and Robin's wordless signals, the Bat continued.

"Why would I be relieved?" G scoffed as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Because I'm no longer focused on you! Paintings are sooo much better than dark, scary vigilantes." She could practically feel the glare that was being given to her by said vigilante.

"I still can't let you leave with that painting." Ghost gave an exaggerated sigh and eye roll.

"Of course you can't. Oh well." She unclipped the tube from her back and tossed it to the Bat. "I got what I wanted anyways." This time, Robin burst in with a curious question.

"What did you want?" Ghost gave the little bird a smirk.

"A little fun, of course."

Robin gave his mentor and incredulous look as Ghost left.

"That was the recently famous Ghost?"He didn't receive an answer as he and Batman continued patrolling (with a small pit stop at Gotham Police Department to return the stolen painting). Neither bothered to follow Ghost.

Cass for her part was laughing her butt off as she called Travis to tell him about the most recent encounter with the Bats. (She carefully neglected to say anything about Roy kissing her and her panic attack afterwards.) Travis laughed along with her, claiming that the pair probably thought she was more than a little crazy stealing a painting but then not bothering to try and keep it. She used the opportunity and happy mood to inform Trav about her most recent plans and get his opinion on them. Far too used to Cass's impulsive and stubborn nature, he accepted it easily enough. Though he did caution her about the Gotham Rogues and that they might not be that happy about her sudden appearance on their turf. Cass just figured that if worst came to worst she had the Gotham ladies on her side. (Ghost, Ivy, Harley, and Catwoman met up for annual gossip sessions every couple of months.) After Travis was satisfied that she had everything under control and wasn't just rushing into things blindly he finally let her shower and get to bed. Only all tiredness that she had held before had vanished the moment her head hit the pillow. Instead all she could think about was Roy. As if knowing that she was thinking about him, her phone chimed with a text that Roy had sent her.

 _Roy: Are we going to talk about that?_ Cass of course, knew exactly what he was talking about but chose to play ignorant.

 _Cass: Talk about what?_

 _Roy: The kiss. Your reaction._

 _Cass: Oh. That._

 _Roy: Yeah, any explanation to go along with that?_

 _Cass: This is not something I want to talk about over text. I'm also kinda tired. It is almost midnight. You free for coffee tomorrow around noon?_

 _Roy: Yeah, where?_

 _Cass: The same one we first met at._

Roy didn't reply and Cass took that as acceptance. She would not enjoy their talk. Cass felt that there were more reasons to stay away from him than there were to stay with him. She felt bad and utterly depressed but she had no doubt that she felt better than she would if he either find out the truth and break up with her, or he died. Cass placed her phone back on the nightstand and closed her eyes. Her sleep was filled with nightmares and memories blurring and dancing together through her vision.

 _Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock… Knock, Knock._

Cass sat bolt upright at the sound of knocking at her door. Without even being fully awake she grabbed the gun hidden the headboard of her bed and crept silently towards the door. She flung it open and immediately pulled her gun up and was ready to fire.

"Easy Cass!" Cass slumped and relaxed as she realized it was Mis. Deciding to ignore the problem for now she turned around and moved to make coffee in the kitchen. Artemis took this as a welcome and gently closed the door behind her.

"Do you want coffee?" Cass questioned Mis. Her voice was still scratchy and she was radiating hostility. Mis didn't let it bother her though; she was used to Cass's grouchy behavior before she had her coffee.

"Yes please." She waited until Cass had safely drank three-fourths of her coffee before speaking up. "So," she drew out the word. "How was your date last night?" Cass sighed. This was exactly what she didn't want to talk about with Mis.

"It went absolutely wonderful." Artemis narrowed her eyes; mentally planning different ways to kill Roy and make it look like an accident because she was sure whatever was wrong wasn't Cass's fault.

"I'm sensing a but."

"But, I'm going to stop things from going any further." Mis just about exploded.

"What did he do? I'll kill him for you!" Cass waved off the offer.

"No. It's not him."

"Well who else could it be?" Cass just looked at her coffee.

"He kissed me."

"That's a good thing Cass!"

"No, Mis you don't understand. He kissed me. It was completely out of the blue and unexpected and I almost did the same thing I did to Peter!" Cass exclaimed. Continuing is a much quieter voice, "Also, what happens when he finds out who I am? That's not going to go over well." Artemis hated to admit it, but Cass had a point. Roy would not react in a good way if he ever found out that Cass was an assassin. She gave Cass a long look.

"You could just quit, you know." Cass looked Mis in the eyes, and for once she could see the emotions swirling in them. Hurt, Sadness, Fear. It was the last one that got to Artemis. She suddenly understood just how scared Cass had to be at that prospect. Doing these jobs was her life. She wasn't sure if she could have, or even if she deserved anything else in life. Artemis could relate to that. So, Mis let the subject drop. She wouldn't push the topic when it would only make Cass more reluctant to give in. She did however give Cass her opinion.

"I think you shouldn't stop seeing him. But you're free to do whatever you want." Cass nodded her thanks and calmly finished her coffee.

"Did you just come to find out how my date went?"

"Pretty much. I also have to leave now. I have training today. I'll see you another time Cass." The pair said their goodbyes and Artemis was leaving for training at the cave. Cass sighed. Well, she had a couple hours before she had to be at the café. She might as well take a look at Gotham U. So she got dressed, speed walked out of the house and down the street in the direction of the university. Cass made a mental note to buy a car so she didn't have to walk everywhere. She was just reaching the Campus as her phone blared _White and Nerdy_ by Weird Al from its speakers. It was the custom ringtone she had set for Trav (everyone in her phone had one). She answered with a quick hello as she scanned Gotham U and its surroundings.

 _"Hey! I realized that I never asked about your date!"_ Cass groaned.

"No. Nope. I am not talking about this." There was a laugh on the other end.

 _"Why not? Was it that bad?"_ She stayed silent. _"Wait was it bad?"_

"No. No it was good. I just don't things are…" Cass searched for the right word, "right between us."

 _"I'm sorry."_

"It's no big deal." She waved away his concern. A sudden thought occurred to her. "I need to be able to fly." She could practically see the questioning look Trav would be giving her.

 _"What?"_

"I need to fly."

 _"Like in a plane?"_

"No off of rooftops." Cass lowered her voice so only Trav could hear her. "If I'm going to stay in Gotham, I'm going to need a way to travel faster. That way I can get away from the Bats." She was really good at running after all, and there was no way she would be able to beat Batman in a fight unless she caught him by surprise with her powers and that would likely only happen once.

 _"Right. Well you're the machine genius; I'm just the computer guy. Let me know how that goes, 'cause if you can fly then I want it."_ She rolled her eyes.

"Your wish is my command. Hey what do you think about Gotham University?"

 _"You're thinking about college now? I thought you don't like the idea of college! 'Why sit around and get a degree that I'm never going to need?' you say, 'why bother getting connected?' you say."_

"Yes I know what I said. It's just…" She trailed off.

 _"Just what, Cass?"_ His voice was soft and encouraging.

"I want to be normal!" She burst out. There was silence on the other end for a minute and Cass thought he had hung up. She almost wished she did when she heard his next words.

 _"I'll be back in Gotham tomorrow."_

"What? Why?"

 _"Because you need to talk about these things with a neutral party and I'm the closest thing you've got to one."_

"I thought I was talking to you!" Cass decided she was done gawking at Gotham U and turned to head home.

 _"I meant in person. I need to be there to help you out."_

"Trav, you really don't."

 _"I'll be on a plane to Gotham tomorrow."_ He then did what Cass would have normally done. Travis hung up.

She swore down at the phone and cursed some more when she realized that she had very little time left to get to the coffee shop. The one that was all the way on the other side of Gotham. She quickly texted Roy that she was running late and broke out in a dead sprint towards the coffee shop. Cass quickly glanced at her phone when it dinged.

 _Roy: No problem. I'm running late as well._

She sighed in relief, well that was one problem taken care of. She still wanted to get there quickly though so she continued to run though it was no longer as urgent. Realizing that running was going to get her no where near the other side of the city unless she chose to run for forty-five minutes she sucked up her paranoia and called a cab. She quickly gave the address when he pulled up and informed him that she would pay him double if he got her there in less than thirty minutes. He managed to get her there in fifteen to immense joy. She quickly paid the cabbie, walked inside, and ordered a coffee. One could never have enough coffee. She took a window seat and watched for Roy on the street. There. Five minutes later she saw his head across the street, he was panting and looked like he had run several blocks. They made eye contact and Cass gave him a small smile. That was when her world erupted in pain and everything went black.

 **And there's the next chapter, with a bonus cliffhanger. :) Thank you to everyone who faved, followed, and reviewed! It always leaves me smiling like an idiot for the rest of the day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**There's a slight warning for abuse in this chapter. I'll put linebreaks around the section so you can skip if you need to.**

Roy had been having an average day, though it contained a small amount of worry about his upcoming meeting with Cass. (He wasn't sure if he should call it a date since he was pretty sure she just wanted to end things.) He had spent it though with Dick playing video games at the manor and eating cookies Alfred supplied. They had lost track of the time and it was almost noon when Roy remembered his meeting with Cass. He gave Dick a rushed explanation and a goodbye before bolting out the door. He quickly slipped onto his motorcycle that was parked outside the manor and drove off towards the coffee shop. He was almost there when a taxi nearly ran him off the road with its crazy driving. He had lost control of the bike enough though that he wrecked. It went skidding into the middle lane of traffic and was quickly crushed as Roy used his fast reflexes to minimize the damage to himself. He frowned at the bike, but didn't wait around to deal with the angry drivers that were now in a traffic jam due to his accident. Roy simply turned tail and ran towards the coffee shop. He had no idea why this was so important to him; she already knew he was running late. Why was he so convinced that he had to make it to the coffee shop ASAP? Roy had finally made it to the street before the coffee shop when he slowed down. He quickly glanced at the window and was surprised to see Cass watching him. He was even more surprised to see her give him a smile. Maybe he had misunderstood the text? Maybe Cass had just made a mistake when writing it. A little hope surged through him and he started to cross the street. That was when the coffee shop exploded. Roy quickly backed up to the sidewalk and put his arm over his head. The next few hours were a blur. He vaguely remembered finding her on the sidewalk and checking for a pulse. He also remembered flashing lights and sirens and the unquenchable panic when they started to take Cass away from him. Somehow in all the confusion he had ended up in the hospital waiting room with dozens of other families waiting for news on their loved ones. Thankfully the blast hadn't been that strong. There were quite a few survivors. Roy just didn't know if Cass was one of them. He was a little surprised though (and had returned enough to himself that he could think again) to see Artemis rushing in and looking positively frantic. Her hair was a mess in its ponytail and her clothes were askew as if she had just pulled them on. Roy wondered if she was wearing her costume underneath them. She spoke briefly with the nurse behind the counter before turning around and scanning the room. The moment she saw Roy she started towards him.

"Roy?" She questioned. At a closer look, Roy could see that her eyes were darting around the room so fast she looked like Wally. He vaguely recognized it as a nervous tick. "What are you doing here?" She questioned.

"I was meeting a friend at the coffee shop." Artemis paused and he could see the gears shifting in her head.

"Cass! Of course!" Roy was more than surprised. How had Artemis known he was meeting Cass? Before he could get that question out the blonde archer continued with questions of her own. "Is she okay? I mean is she alive? Or was she when you got there?" Despite how much he disliked Artemis, Roy found himself unable to press for his own answers when he saw the pure fear in her eyes.

"She was alive when I got there. She's been on the operating table since." Artemis gave a small sigh of relief and collapsed in the chair next to him. Cass wasn't dead yet.

"How'd you know that I was meeting Cass?" Artemis stayed quiet for a moment.

"She's my best friend. She told me she had a date with you and that she was meeting you again today at noon. I was actually the friend who answered her phone when you called." Roy was again surprised at that. He chose to ignore the fact that Artemis and Cass were best friends and that she might know what Cass was going to say at the coffee shop, in favor for the lighter route.

"Wait. You're 'Gotham's Arkahm Asylum Girl'?" Artemis gave a small chuckle, though it was clearly forced.

"Yeah, that was me. I didn't know it was you calling until later."

"Huh. I knew I recognized your voice! I just could think of where from!"

"Family of Cassandra Blake?" A doctor called out into the waiting room. Artemis quickly stood up.

"That's me." The doctor worked his way through the people until he reached Artemis. Roy had stood up to stand beside her.

"I'm Doctor Matthews I worked on Cass in the operating room."

"Right, how is she." Artemis questioned with a blank face.

"She's stable for now. The next twenty-four hours are going to determine how we proceed, but for now she's on a vent and hooked up for a blood transfusion. There was a large amount of shrapnel in her leg and I'm not sure if she'll ever be able to walk on it, but there is a chance. We're also worried about a head injury she received. We'll have to wait till she wakes up to see if there's any lasting damage." Artemis, took the news in stride, as if it was something she heard everyday.

"Can we see her?" Doctor Matthews looked down at his clipboard.

"You may. Your friend though isn't family so he can't be allowed back." Before Roy could protest Artemis stepped in.

"He's my cousin. He's family." The doctor glanced at her dubiously but accepted it with a small frown.

"Go right down that hall, take the second left and her room number is 17 B." The doctor quickly disappeared behind the two double doors that separated the staff area and the waiting room. Artemis quickly grabbed her bag from the chair and set off towards Cass's room. (Roy idly wondered how he had missed the bag during his first scan of her, though he had no doubt that her bow and quiver were stashed inside it.)

They both had told hold back the gasps when they entered Cass's hospital room. Despite the doctor telling them all about it, it was still unnerving to see her hooked up to various machines and monitors that were basically forcing her body to work. Artemis took one of the chairs next to Cass's bed while Roy took the one on the other side.

"So family?" Roy questioned. He wasn't sure if he was asking about her and Cass or him and her. As if sensing this, Artemis answered both questions.

"Her Uncle was an a******, and we were practically sisters anyway. We just made it official so that I could visit her in hospitals if anything ever happened. Also I really didn't feel like putting up with the 'no one other than family' argument at the moment so I said the first thing I could think of. Technically you are my cousin because of Ollie." Roy scoffed.

"I am not your cousin. You aren't related to Oliver." Artemis gave a deep sigh. She seemed to debate with herself for a moment before giving in.

"No, I'm not. But Ollie trusts me and the team trusts me. That should be enough for now." She looked at him with a small glare, though it was slightly damped by the numerous emotions rolling around in her eyes. Roy decided to leave it for now. He and Artemis could bicker later, but not besides Cass's hospital bed. Artemis dug around in the bag at the end of the bed. He vaguely recognized it as Cass's.

"What are you doing?"

"None of your business." She pulled out a phone and started scrolling through something. Roy decided to ignore her for now and flicked the TV on.

"Hey, Trav it's Mis."

 _Mis? Really? And who's Trav?_ There was a long pause as she listened to whoever was on the other side.

"She's alive, though you might want to head towards Gotham if you aren't hiding somewhere in the city." Roy raised an eyebrow and glanced at _Mis_. What kind of person was she talking to?

"Yeah, she's in the hospital. There was an explosion at this coffee shop; she was caught in the blast. It was small so she should be fine." Roy wasn't sure that Cass would be 'fine' as Artemis put it. Last he checked she might not walk again and there was a possibility of brain damage. He flipped through channels and tried to ignore the rest of the conversation. As curious as he was about Artemis, the conversation was about Cass. He didn't want to pry into her personal life. It was only when Artemis hung up that he turned towards her again.

"Who's Trav?" He asked. Artemis groaned.

"Trav is one of Cass's friends. He's like her older, overprotective brother. He also is really big on computers. He and Rob could probably have a field day discussing hacking techniques. Though it would probably be the apocalypse if Trav and Rob ever got together to discuss such things." Roy nodded.

"Then we will keep them far, far away from one another. I don't think the world could handle another apocalypse." Artemis smiled and Roy dimly realized that she was losing some of the tension she had previously held. It wasn't all the way gone, and he doubted it would be with him there, but she looked more relaxed than he had ever seen her. He considered asking the question that had been on his mind since he found out that Artemis knew Cass. After a brief mental debate he decided he might as well.

"Do you know what Cass wanted to talk to me about?" Artemis gave him a flat glare.

"You really want to talk about this now?"

"When else would I want to talk about it?" Artemis gave a little huff. She could name dozens of other times when this topic could be discussed. Preferably during a time when Cass was awake and coherent. She would talk about it anyways, 'cause she knew Roy would just push the issue.

"Yes. I do know what Cass wanted to talk to you about." Roy gave her a 'go ahead' look. "She was going to stop things between you." Roy gave out a long sigh.

"I thought so. Her texts weren't exactly encouraging. Can you give me a clue why?" Artemis bit her lip.

"You scared her." She finally blurted out.

"I scared her?" Roy mentally reviewed everything that went on that night. There were only two possible times where he scared her. The attempted mugging and the kiss.

"Was it the mugging?" Artemis's head snapped to look at him.

"What mugging!" It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"I was walking her back from the movie when someone attempted to mug us. She was just about to comply with his demands when I stopped her. He demanded her purse again and I again stopped her. I was just about to pull out some moves when Robin jumped down and arrested the guy." Artemis leaned back into her chair and resumed watching the TV with a careless air.

"That was not something she told me. Remind me to thank Robin next time I see him. But no, it wasn't the mugging. Something like that wouldn't really scare Cass. It was the kiss that scared her." Roy groaned and slouched in his chair.

"The kiss scared her! What did she think would happen when I walked her home after a date? I thought I was being pretty clear!"

"Cass is kinda dense. She has trouble understanding social interaction and participating in it herself. Your kiss startled her and probably reminded her of something else." Roy groaned again.

"I'm an idiot. I knew she was having trouble with social skills but the night went so well that I just forgot she might not be expecting a kiss. If she was going to stop seeing me then I should probably leave, shouldn't I?" Artemis shook her head and pushed him back down into his seat.

"No. She'll be happy you're here. I can't go into much detail, but she still likes you. And I doubt that she would have actually gone through with ending things when she saw you. Cass is odd like that." Roy took Artemis's words to heart and slowly sat back down again. There was a comfortable silence for a minute.

"Does this mean I get to call you Mis now?" Roy smirked as Artemis glared heavily at him.

"Not in your dreams."

 **~~Linebreak~~ (You can skip here)**

 _Cass was confused. Wasn't she supposed to meet Roy at the coffee shop? In fact, she was sure that she had been at the coffee shop. So why was she here in her childhood room? Everything was exactly the same as it used to be. Everything was cleaned with military precision. Her little sketch book still rested on the nightstand. Her pencils were lined up in an orderly fashion on her desk. Cass walked over to the closet and opened it. Her clothes were even the same as they had been back then. Cass would almost think this was real if it weren't for the fact that she hadn't entered this room since she was twelve. That was six years ago. She continued to walk around the room, observing._

 _"Cassandra! Downstairs, now!" Her head snapped towards the door as she heard the voice call. That wasn't right. That was the voice of Uncle Remy. But Uncle Remy was in prison. Central City High Security Prison, to be exact. There was no way he was downstairs. Still, the habits that her uncle had drilled into her head were present as she made her way downstairs. He was standing in the middle of the living room. Cass warily took notice of the clenched hands and throbbing vein in his arm. Her uncle was angry, and an angry Remy led to a very unhappy Cass._

 _"Y-yes?" Cass mentally cursed at her small stutter. While the normal person wouldn't notice it, she had no such delusions about her uncle. And notice it he did._

 _"Don't stutter it's unbecoming." He demanded._

 _"Okay." Her voice was stronger this time. Uncle Remy thrust a folder into her hands. She glanced down at it, then back up to him._

 _"Open it." His voice was cold and hard. Cass didn't hesitate. She flipped the folder open to show pictures of… herself? Why did Uncle Remy have pictures of her? She looked closer and realized that there was someone else in the picture with her. She suddenly understood what was going on. Her eyes widened and she took half a step back. These were pictures of her and Peter. These were pictures of her first kiss. These were pictures of her Meta abilities. These were pictures of her first kill. Cass looked up at her uncle. This time the stutter was painfully obvious._

 _"S-so wh-what?" Her uncle took a threatening step forwards. Cass took an instinctual step back._

 _"So what!" He bellowed. "So what! So what is the fact that you have Meta abilities and didn't tell me! So what is that you have been keeping things from me. So what is that you lied to me!" He grabbed her short, blonde hair before she could run. Cass didn't remember much about the next couple of hours._

 **~~Linebreak~~ (Here's where you can start reading again)**

The pull to awareness was more of a snap. One moment Cass is deep in the memories of her mind, the next all her senses are awake. She closes her eyes against the bright light and groans as she hears the beeping next to her. Cass recognizes the pain next, but doesn't pay it much mind. She slowly opens her eyes again and is pleasantly surprised to see that there was no one in her hospital room.

 _Where am I? This isn't the infirmary room in the house._ Cass sits up quietly. The last thing she remembered was accepting a job in Coast City. A simple assassination of a forging dignitary. Cass is getting more than a little panicked now. She quietly pulls over her heart monitor and places a hand on it. She knows enough about these in order to trick the wiring that she's still there. After that's done she pulls off the sticky tabs and proceeds to expertly remove her IV. She quickly reaches down the side of the hospital bed and types a few things on the screen. The last thing she needs is alarms going off because she got up. Cass pushes the sheets back and goes to stand when she sees her leg and frowns.

 _That's going to be a problem._

It normally wouldn't stop her from walking but it looks bad as it is, and she doesn't want to permanently damage it. So she grabs the back of the chair and stands up while putting as little pressure on her leg as possible. Using various items for support she grabs the bag at the end of the bed and quickly changes into some clothes she found there. It's odd, the clothes in the bag fit her perfectly and are something she would wear, but she doesn't remember buying either the bag or the clothes. Her cell phone is missing and so are several other important items such as her gun, pepper spray, and several knives. She concludes that the hospital must have removed them. This isn't a problem. Cass doesn't have anyone she could call anyways. She hasn't heard from Mis in months and Travis is away and undercover. This is when she notices that her hair is red. A bright, eye-catching red. That is a problem. Her hair draws entirely too much attention. She resolves to dye it as soon as possible. Cass walks as smoothly as she can out the door. No one questions her. She continues walking/limping down the hallways until she comes to a lobby. Somewhere along the way she managed to snag a crutch and suddenly her getaway is much easier. Plus, she now has a weapon. A couple of seconds later and Cass is gone. She disappears like the creature she was named after.

 **Sorry this chapter is a day late! The cliffhanger is no longer a cliffhanger. :) Thank you all for your reviews, follows and favorites! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Okay, this is so late because I was really reluctant to post this chapter. My writing was kind of a mess when I wrote this chapter, and none of my rewrites have been any better. It's just one of those chapters that I can't get right, sorry.**

Travis doesn't normally worry about Cass. He's learned that she's reckless and unpredictable and worrying is only going to confuse Cass. So he doesn't. Travis pushes any worry he has into the back of his mind and pushes on with life. He cannot stop the worry, however, when Artemis calls him from Cass's phone. Mis confirms the fact that she's in a hospital and gives him a brief description of what happened. The fact that Mis says Cass is fine, doesn't reassure him in the slightest. The worry nags at him the whole plane ride back to Gotham. He doesn't think his worry can increase. When he lands in the airport, Mis is there to greet him with some other guy he doesn't know. Trav is instantly on guard. When Artemis introduces the guy as Roy, Cass's date, his guard loosens but is replaced with slight anger. If both Artemis and Roy are here picking him up, then who's with Cass? He voices such thoughts and Mis reassures him that Cass is going to stay out until at least noon because of the pain killers. That eases the worry somewhat. It comes back with a vengeance though when they walk into her hospital room to find it empty.

"'With the number of painkillers she's on she won't wake up until at least noon' she said." Travis mocked. He knew it wasn't Mis's fault, but he's worried. Cass's first instinct would have been to call him or Mis. Artemis though, isn't one to take things lying down.

"She shouldn't have! They had her on pretty high painkillers and reassured us several times that no normal person would be awake for hours." Travis gestures to the empty bed.

"Cass isn't normal Mis!" He yells. Artemis is just about to snap back at him when muscles, sorry _Roy_ , inserts himself into the conversation.

"What do you mean, Cass isn't normal?" Trav runs a hand over his face. The last thing they needed was to explain Cass's Meta status and Travis really doesn't want to tell this guy anything. That's Cass's business. Artemis doesn't seem to have a problem with it though.

"Cass is a Meta human." Roy looks shocked for a minute before shaking his head.

"Okay, that doesn't matter right now. Right now, we need to find her. Preferably without gaining the attention of the media." It takes a minute for Travis to remember that Roy was a celebrity, or his father was one anyways. Travis gives a big sigh and pulls his laptop from his bag.

"Okay, first I'm going to check her out with an all clear so that no one questions her disappearance." Roy raises an eyebrow as Travis types, but doesn't say anything. Travis continues.

"Now that that's done." He pulls up security footage of the hospital. They don't have cameras in the rooms themselves, but Trav saw several in the hallways. He glances up at the pair huddling over his shoulder.

"What time did you two leave this morning?"

"Around nine o'clock," Mis says. Travis pulls up that time stamp. Sure enough Artemis and Roy are seen leaving the room. He fast forwards a little bit.

"Wait, stop! Go back!" Roy exclaims. There on the footage, Cass is limping out of the room. Nodding, Travis pulls the files need to follow her progress. The three watch as she snags a crutch that was leaning against a wall while the nurse was busy. Her progress is faster after that. She manages to get out of the hospital in three minutes total. Travis is somewhat impressed but also confused. Cass wouldn't have just walked out of the hospital like that. Not when she was limping so badly.

"I don't understand," Artemis says. "Why didn't she just call us using one of the hospital phones, or wait till we got back?" Travis doesn't have an answer.

"Could it be possible that her head injury messed with her memory?" Roy suggests. Both Travis and Artemis freeze at that idea. If Cass was missing memories, then they were in trouble.

"When was the last time you were unavailable to talk to Cass?" Travis questioned. Artemis catches on to his drift. If Cass was thrown back enough that she didn't think she could reach either Travis or her, then they had a rough time period. They could use that to figure out what Cass was planning to do.

"About a year ago, I wasn't answering her calls for months." Travis pushed harder.

"What months?"

"Um… I think it was between October and December. We finally reconnected a couple of days before Christmas." Both Roy and Artemis could see the cogs turning in Travis's brain.

"That lines up with when I was away for…" He hesitates and glances at Roy, "work." Roy catches the glance, but decides to worry about Travis's lies later. Right now he had to find Cass.

"So she's out there and thinks it's a year before. Where would she have gone a year before?"

"I have no clue." Travis says. Artemis jumps in.

"She might have recognized Gotham and headed back to the apartment." Roy nods.

"We'll start there then." The three head out and Travis dwindles back enough to talk with Artemis without being overheard.

"Why'd you tell him about Cass's Meta abilities?"

"Relax, I know Roy. I trust him. Roy won't care. It's also not like I told him exactly what her abilities are. That's Cass's business. Not mine." Travis gives Artemis a look that clearly indicates how much of an idiot he thinks she is.

"You trust him? How long have you known the guy Mis? Since yesterday afternoon?" Artemis gives him an affronted look.

"No! I actually knew him before Cass met him. No I won't tell you more." She declared at his open mouth. Travis huffed and crossed his arms.

"If something happens to Cass because you jumped the gun Mis, the blame is on you." He speeds ahead to join Roy and attempt small talk. Artemis purses her lips behind the pair and joins them in the taxi.

 _We're coming Cass,_ she thinks.

 **LineBreak**

The apartment is suspiciously empty when they get there. (And Roy really doesn't want to know where Travis picked up lock picking since he forgot his key.) Closer inspection of the place reveals that there are things missing. Her favorite shoes, a backpack, some clothes, and a small amount of food are gone. Cass beat them there. Travis's worry is starting to seep through his poorly constructed mask. Roy feels bad for the guy. He's looking for his little sister who had just nearly died from an explosion, has a busted knee, is missing a year of memory, and is currently loose in one of the biggest crime cities in America. Just one of those things would be enough to make someone worry. Artemis has disappeared somewhere in the apartment to check and see if other 'important' items have gone missing as well. The way she say's important makes him doubt that his kinda-sorta girlfriend is on the right side of the law. He's mentally filing this information away as possible evidence against Artemis. Just because he's working with her now, doesn't mean he won't bring her down later. Roy is convinced that Artemis is a mole. And just like Artemis seems willing to do anything to make sure her sister is safe, Roy is willing to do anything to make sure his brothers are safe.

"Nothing." Mis declares when she comes back into the room Travis's head snaps up from where he's browsing through some tablet.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Travis asks.

"I mean, everything's gone." Roy's had enough of their cryptic talk. He wants answers and he wants them now.

"What's gone? While we're at it, what was this work you had?" He gestures to Travis. "What Meta abilities does Cass have? How is she even able to walk, when the doctor said she most likely wouldn't be able to?" Artemis gives him a long stare. Travis just looks back to his computer.

"I can't tell you that." She admits. He's about to protect when she holds up a hand. "Let me explain. It's Cass's business. I won't betray her trust and tell you more. I will tell you that it's all connected and because of Cass's Meta abilities, there's a good chance that her knee will be well enough to use." Roy shakes his head.

"Will you at least tell me if she's doing something illegal or not?" It's Travis who speaks this time.

"Cass is. I am. Artemis is not. Are you satisfied?" The truth is that Roy is not satisfied. He wants to know exactly what Cass and Travis are doing that's illegal and how Artemis knows about it. He holds back though because even if Cass is doing something illegal, he still wants to make sure she's safe. And he still feels pulled to her despite what he just learned. Artemis and Travis go back to searching through Cass's apartment in hopes of finding something to lead them to her. (Well, Travis goes back to his computer searching.) _"Her uncle was an a******."_ He recalls Artemis's statement in the hospital. Did Cass's uncle push her towards whatever illegal activities she's caught up in? Roy figured that he should just ask Cass later. He joined Artemis is searching the apartment, though he had no idea what he was looking for. Roy was surprised that Cass was clearly a shopaholic. Her closet was filled with clothes. On instinct, he ventures deeper into the room. In the back corner he notices a hatbox. There's a line of dust around it, but it doesn't line up exactly. The box had been recently moved. Roy reaches up and pulls it down. It's heavier than he expected. He gently places it on the floor and opens the lid. The thing is filled to the brim with small mementos and pictures. On the top is a simple, handwritten poem. He recognizes it at "I Have a Rendezvous with Death". They had to read it in school once. Roy digs deeper into the box. He bypasses most of the photos; he feels they aren't his to look at. The ones he does see all include Artemis. He's not quite sure what he's looking for but he knows he's found it when he reaches the bottom of the box. There underneath all the photos and written words lies a single sketchbook. He pulls it out and flips open the first page. It's a portrait of a young boy. He's probably around Robin's age, but the only thing you can tell from the black and white drawing is that he has light hair and light skin. On the back in curly writing is the name _Peter Mendale_. There's a list of things underneath it. Mostly innocent stuff, his favorite color or movie genre. At the end it gets a little darker. _Died June 18_ _th_ _._ There are not further comments on the page and no year follows that declaration. There's a drawing of Artemis on the next page. She looks close to ten years old, and her hair is much shorter than it is now but it's defiantly her. The name on the back confirms it. The same type of list is on the back of this one, though it includes her birthday in place of the death date. Roy quickly skims through the rest of the book. He notices there's one of Travis, and other unrecognizable people. Each one is black and white and looks more like a photograph than a drawing. Each one also has a name and list on the back. Some of them have death dates as well, which are joined by what look like tear stains. He sees Artemis and Travis growing up through the years. Roy stops when he comes upon Batman's picture. There aren't any other heroes in the book, this is the first one. He wonders why Batman has been added. From what he can tell, these are mostly friends or at the very least, acquaintances.

 _Maybe she just wanted to draw the mysterious Batman._ Roy throws that thought out as soon as it comes. This picture is way too detailed and accurate for it to mean anything other than the fact that Cass had been within arm's reach of the guy. And the fact that it's featured in this book shows that it was more than once. Roy hears footsteps approaching and he flips to the next page intent on getting all the information he can from this book. It's him. He almost drops the book in shock. Cass drew him in her sketchbook. Somehow, he knows that that is a big deal.

"Huh. That says a lot." Roy's jerked out of his thoughts when Travis voices this right over his head. Roy berates himself as he realizes that Travis snuck up on him.

"What do you mean 'that says a lot'?" He barks out. His voice is ruff and angry and he snaps the book closed with a _thud_. Roy's eyebrows are drawn together as he glares at Travis. Not liking the height advantage the guy has over him right now, Roy stands up. He's pleased to find that he is in fact taller than Travis. Travis's eyes are level with his nose.

"I mean, she only puts in people who have made an impact on her in that book." Instead of backing down at Roy's abrupt aggressiveness, he rolls his eyes.

"Batman made an impact on Cass?" Roy crosses his arms in an attempt to reign in his anger. It's irrational to be mad at Travis when really he's madder at Cass. Travis rubs his neck.

"Well yeah. She's here in Gotham for a job; she's crossed paths with the Bat a couple times."

"I suppose you won't tell me what type of job she was here for." It's more of a statement than a question, and Travis doesn't bother answering it.

"That's between you and her." He supplies instead. Artemis chooses this as a perfect moment to burst in.

"I think I've found her!" Instantly both guys are rushing out of the closet and following Artemis to the kitchen. Artemis pulls up a holographic touch screen from the kitchen island and Roy's eyebrows shoot up. The island counter looks just like… well… a counter. There's nothing to indicate that it could be a screen, and when Roy taps the corner of it, it seems just as solid as a regular counter. He pulls his mind back to the present when Artemis pulls up a map of the city with a blinking red dot.

"How'd you find her?" Travis demands. Artemis looks slightly sheepish.

"I tagged some of her…" Artemis glances at Roy, "things a while back." Roy's eyes narrow, but he knows he'll get answers when they find Cass.

"You put a tracker on your best friend?" Suddenly glaring and grouchy Artemis is back.

"Don't tell me you haven't tried with Rob –" She almost goes to continue his name but catches herself, "or with Wally!" Roy _has_ tried, but that's not the point. (Also both are more like brothers than his best friend, his best friend is Kaldur.)

"That's not the point!"

"Then what's the point, Roy?" Travis cuts in before they can dissolve into an all-out screaming match.

"Enough, we need to go get Cass before she hurts herself." Roy is secretly thankful for the disruption because he would never admit it, but Roy had no idea where he was going with that argument. Artemis huffs and mumbles curse words under her breath. The pair simultaneously turn around and walk in different directions to grab their jackets and head out the door. The elevator ride down is tense, and Travis carefully makes sure that he is not between both Roy and Artemis there or in the taxi. He may not want them to argue but he isn't stupid. If Roy and Mis do start to argue again and it escalates to blows, he does not want to be in the middle. Travis isn't a very physical person. Sure he knows a few moves because Cass wants him to have at least some self-defense skills, but he has no doubt that he stands zero chance if he wants to stay in Mis's way. And looking at Roy, Travis is pretty sure that the guy knows a few moves. There was a reason that Trav had nicknamed him muscles earlier. When they finally reach the address of Cass's last know location (it had dropped off several minutes ago) they're surprised to see that it's a mall. Travis all but throws himself out of the taxi the moment it stops. Roy and Artemis haven't stopped glaring at each other. He wonders where the tolerance from earlier went. Artemis groans loudly when she steps out.

"Of course she would go to the mall."

"I know, we should have thought of this earlier. It would also explain why her tracker stopped; there could be interference from other security features in the stores."

"Why would it be obvious that Cass would go to the mall?" Before Mis can snap at him like he knows she plans, Travis answers his question.

"Because Cass is a major shopaholic. She won't ever admit it, and she'll give you a million and one reasons as to why she isn't, but she is."

Roy digested this new piece of information. After seeing Cass's closet he had had his suspicions, but they made it seem bigger than he thought it was.

"Yeah, Cass loves shopping almost as much as she loves coffee. It's a really close thing." Artemis drawled.

"Wait seriously?" Roy asked.

"You know about her coffee addiction?" Travis questioned.

"Uh, yeah. We met at a coffee shop and I asked her for coffee without thinking. She downed a whole cup in seconds in order to go get another cup." Travis made an impressed noise.

"Yeah, that sounds like Cass. She drinks the stuff like most people drink water. When she's really tired she'll pour an energy drink into it; there's no stopping her then." While Travis and Roy were talking, Artemis had gotten fed up and walked towards the mall.

"You boys coming?" She called over her shoulder. The pair scrambled after her.

 **LineBreak**

Cass was in the shopping mall and trying to make sense of what was going on when her gut gave an awful wrench in her stomach. She was instantly on guard. Not changing her posture or her speed, Cass continued to browse through the clothes that were hanging from the rack. She subtly glanced around in hopes of spotting something strange. _Is that, Artemis?_ She looked around some more. _Wait. That's Travis._ There was no doubt; Cass would know the pair anywhere. Why were they here? Wasn't Travis off in some small country playing undercover games? And she was pretty sure that Mis was dealing with personal stuff that she didn't want to talk about. That's why they hadn't been in contact for months. Cass wanted nothing more than to stay and find out just what was going on but instincts were screaming at her to run. Her instincts could be wrong, it could just be paranoia. But why would they both be pretending they didn't see her? Artemis would have seen her right away and Travis had this creepy radar thing from all the times Cass had snuck up on him. He could tell she was near from a block away. (She swore that Trav was secretly a Meta with weird homing and tracking capabilities, but his DNA said otherwise.) Something wasn't right. She decided that running was her best option. Cass straightened the crutch she had been partially leaning on. It was pretty much useless now that her leg was mostly better but one should never underestimate the power of underestimation. If Mis and Trav thought that she hadn't gotten the energy up to heal her knee, then they would be quickly lost when she started jumping from roof to roof. With this in mind, Cass moved as quickly as she could without rousing suspicion. Her heart thumped in her chest as she moved towards the parking garage on the other side of the mall. A quick glance in the mirror of a makeup kiosk showed both Mis's and Trav's bobbing heads in the crowd. A snort escaped her. _For two assassins they sure can't follow a person. Well, one and a half,_ she amended. The Meta led the pair though the local _Macy's_. As soon as she rounded the corner into Women's she dropped the crutch and took off. Cass was already out in the garage when she heard the feet pounding behind her. She ran up the steps three at a time. Mental curses filled her mind. Even though she had been able to heal her leg up _most_ of the way, she hadn't been able to muster the energy to heal it _all_ the way. It throbbed in time with her heart as she continued to go up, floor by floor. When she finally burst through the door and onto the roof her heart soared. Cass was just about to start parkoring across the city when her path was blocked by a tall stranger. His attire was simple; a black leather jacket, some jeans, and biking boots. His eyes were almost the same shade hers currently were, and his hair was more of a natural red-orange color. He held up a hand in a placating manner.

"I don't want to hurt you Cass." How did he know her name? Said girl was too highly strung to realize that he called her _Cass_ , not _Ghost_. He wasn't after the assassin, he was after the girl. She quickly calculated different ways she could get around this. This stranger had no weapons that she could see. His only obvious advantages were his size and the fact that he was blocking the only path. Both which Cass could work in her favor. He could have weapons stashed somewhere on his person but Cass would also have the element of surprise. Still, Cass backed up to see how far up Mis and Trav were. (If it was the real Mis and Trav.) She frowned. They were close enough that she couldn't get back down but they didn't seem to be coming up the last floor. She wasn't sure why that was but one should never look a gift horse in the mouth. The Meta walked back to the middle of the roof and pulled off her gloves and jacket, leaving her in only a dark blue tank top, black skinny jeans, and her trusty combat boots. She shoved the gloves in her pocket. One never knew when such things would be needed. Without any prior warning she charged forwards with an attack directed at the stranger. She doesn't have time to test the waters like she normally would. Ghost lashes out with a simple roundhouse kick to his side. Blue eyes blocks it easily but makes no move to retaliate. G uses that to her advantage and quickly follows up with a simple punch and a low kick. Though he blocks the attacks, she can see him getting agitated. Ghost continues her assault with several jabs and kicks. Finally, she manages to get a lucky shot in across the right side of his face. She can see the anger becoming uncontrollable now. She can see when he finally gives in and makes a move to punch back. Ghost is on defense for several seconds before he throws a sloppy punch and she quickly moves onto the offensive again. She grabs his arm close to the shoulder and uses her small stature to launch her body up towards his neck. G wraps her legs around and then goes limp. Suddenly overbalanced, Blue eyes crashes to the ground while she rolls away gracefully. He's out before he can get up again. That's when Mis and Travis crash through the door. They must have gotten bored of waiting.

"Cass wait!" Travis calls out. She pauses for half a second before deciding that there's no way Travis would leave the current job in order to chase her through a mall and over rooftops. Ghost takes off. Neither Artemis nor Fake Travis follow her. She decides that Japan would be nice this time of year, so that's where she's set on going.

 **LineBreak**

 **AN: And there's the end of Chapter 7. If anyone can think of some creative chapter titles, let me know! I really don't like the plain old "Chapter x" format. So I realized that Cass/Ghost might be a little OOC (Which is hard to do since she's my OC...) but my theory is that she's still suffering from a head wound/damage. She's not thinking entirely straight. Hope you enjoyed this chapter even with all its flaws!**

 **Thank you all for your follows, favorites, and reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

Back on the rooftop Artemis is cursing up a storm while Travis checks on Roy to make sure that Cass didn't kill him. She didn't, thankfully. Because as much as she wants to kill the guy herself, Artemis isn't sure how she'd explain to Ollie that her best friend murdered his son. Travis slaps Roy's cheek lightly, and then harder when all Roy does is groan. He jerks awake with a groan. Roy reaches a hand up to his head and rubs where Cass's boot connected.

"You didn't tell me that she could kick my a**." He growls at Artemis. She's undisturbed by his aggressiveness.

"I guess that slipped my mind." She states dryly. Roy grunts as he goes to get up and takes the hand Travis offered him.

"So what now?" Trav questions. Artemis sighs.

"There's only one thing I can think of doing…" Artemis trails off. She knows that the only way they'll find Cass now is with the League's help. Even though Travis knows that she's on the hero side, he doesn't know that Roy is. He might suspect it but Artemis is not about to confirm it to him. With this in mind, she carefully words her next sentence to tell Travis to go home without revealing that Roy is Red Arrow.

"Trav, why don't you head home? I'm going to call some people and get some outside help. Roy is more intimidating than you are. No offence." He seems a little affronted at first but something must click in his head because he agrees without protest.

"Yeah, okay." Travis leaves without another word. He knows that Mis will call him if anything comes up. Artemis turns back to Roy the moment she's sure that Trav is out of hearing.

"We need to get League help." Roy's eyebrows shoot up.

"It's that bad?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you everything when I talk to Batman, but we won't be able to find her without his help. If she thought we would go to Batman then even he wouldn't be able to find her. But I'm fairly certain that she's just confused and won't think of that. It's likely that with her head injury she's not thinking entirely logically." Roy nods.

"That's why you sent Travis off. You were protecting your identity." Artemis goes with it. If he doesn't know that Travis knows _her_ secret, she won't break the news.

"Yup, hold on a minute." Her phone goes off and she glances at the screen. _Speak of the devil_. It's Robin.

"Hey Rob! Listen I have a favor to ask." There's a lengthy pause. "I might be able to make that, I'll let you know. I'm here on a Gotham rooftop with Roy. We need Bat's help." There's another long pause. I'll explain it later. Have him meet us tonight at this address." She rattles of Cass's apartment address. "Yeah, on the roof. Say, ten-ish? Great." Artemis hangs up and Roy looks at her with questions in his eyes.

"Batman and Robin will meet us on the roof of Cass's apartment at ten tonight."

"Great. We better head there now, I'm sure you have stuff you want to organize for explaining everything."

Artemis spent the next few hours preparing as much as she could on holoscreen. She pulled up pictures, documents, even the list Cass kept containing as much information as she could find on the people she killed. The last one put a knot in Artemis's stomach. Even if Cass was an assassin. Even if Cass had killed hundreds of people since she was twelve. Cass still had regrets and guilt. Mis knew she would sometimes use the list as a way to punish herself for the things she did. It broke her heart. She had done all she could an hour before she and Roy were to meet the Dynamic Duo. Speaking of Roy, she was surprised to see that he was still sitting on the couch in the living room. He had been looking through Cass's sketchbook the entire time. She had kept an eye on him, but he showed no further signs of questions or any intention of disturbing her while she worked. She waved a hand over the countertop and closed the screen. It was just after nine o'clock and neither she nor Roy had eaten anything. Artemis started digging through the fridge. Several Tupperwares were grabbed and tossed onto the counter.

"Dinner's served. Come get it before I throw it out!" She called out to Roy in a gruff manner. A noncommittal grunt was all she received in answer. She casually picked up one containing pasta and chicken, popped the lid, and shoved it into the microwave. When it was done she went to grab it only to draw back at the steaming heat coming from the dish. A towel was quickly pulled off the oven handle and she used it as a makeshift oven mitt. No sooner had she moved out of the way before Roy was throwing what looked like orange chicken and rice in. Artemis took a seat at the island with a sigh while Roy plopped down across from her. They sat in silence while eating. Something Mis dimly realized was happening a lot. The moment she was finished, Mis placed her Tupperware in the sink and headed towards the living room window.

"I'll be on the roof waiting. You might as well stay here." Mis slid the widow open and proceeded to climb up the fire escape. Ten minutes later she was mentally cursing again. In her haste to get outside and away from the suffocating tension between her and Roy she had forgotten a jacket. She repressed a shiver and tightened her arms that were currently wrapped around her torso in an attempt to create heat. She couldn't make herself go back inside though. So Artemis waited for another five minutes in the bitter November night air. Finally, the Bats had shown up with a quiet thud. She turned to face them.

"Great, we better head inside so I can explain everything easier." Without waiting for their conformation Artemis practically ran back to the fire escape and climbed back down to the top floor window. It may have been rude and incredibly stupid to do so to the Batman but she was freezing. Thankfully, even though it was closed, Roy hadn't locked it. Only once they were inside and huddled around Cass's kitchen island did she open her mouth.

"Why did you call us here?" Batman demanded and rudely interrupted her beginning of an explanation. She went to start again but was stopped again by Roy.

"Because her best friend, my sorta girlfriend, is involved in illegal activities and she needs your help to find her." Artemis huffed and rolled her eyes.

"That is not why we need them!" She yelled at him.

"Why do you need us then?" Robin pushed. Artemis groaned.

"I would explain if everyone would be quiet long enough for me to do so!" She could practically see the eyebrow Batman was raising behind his cowl, though he had no right to judge. She had had a long day and had managed to hold it pretty well together through all of it.

"Okay. This is Cassandra Blake, my best friend." She pulled up a picture of Cass on the holoscreen. It was one without her current hair dye and eye contacts.

"That's not Cass."

"She wears colored contacts and dyes her hair, dumba**." Artemis turned back to the Bats.

"She currently looks like this," Mis pulled up a picture of Cass Trav had been able to snag before he left for Star.

"The point is that she was caught in the bombing today in the coffee shop. Now she's missing close to a years worth of memories and due to a head injury she isn't thinking clearly either."

"I repeat: what does this have to do with us?" Batman asked.

"Like Roy said earlier – Cass is involved in some illegal activities. She has been since she was six. Cass has training, good training. We won't be able to find her without some serious help." At this point Artemis pulled up a sample of Cass's DNA before continuing.

"Cass is a Meta. She's classed as a technopath that needs direct skin on metal contact with a machine in order to interface with it. Not only that, but she needs to know how the machine works and have the energy to perform any interfacing. The human body is close enough to a machine that Cass can interface with it. It's why she covers up all the time. She normally has it under control except when experiencing heightened emotions. When she's really panicked or excited she could accidently stop someone's heart with little trouble. That ability to make a death look accidental with a single touch makes for a very valuable assassin. So one thing led to another and with no small amount of outside influence…" Artemis pulled up more images. This time of Cass in full Ghost gear.

"She became the assassin known as Ghost. _That's_ why we can't find her." Roy felt as if his heart had stopped. Cass was an assassin? Batman's eyes had narrowed the moment the picture came up, while Robin's eyes widened.

"Wait. You're best friend is the assassin that's been trying to kill Batman?" Robin jerked the thumb towards his mentor.

"She wasn't trying to kill you! All her orders said that she was to get your name. She thought it was suicide and took the job only because they paid her half up front and there were no strings attached if she didn't finish the job. Cass took the half, gave it a half-hearted attempt, and then she called it off. If you want to know more about that particular job you'll have to ask Travis. She wouldn't tell me more."

"Who's Travis?" Batman grunted. His attention had returned to Artemis but half of his mind was still on the picture in front of him. It was Roy who answered this question.

"Travis is this hacker guy, from what I understand, he's her partner." _Does yours keep chattering in your ear when you're in the middle of something?_ The voice rang through Batman's mind.

"Circuit?" He guessed out loud. The Bat took Artemis's stunned face as a yes. He nodded. Finding the girl would be difficult, but he was confident he could manage.

"I'll need to look around the apartment and Robin will need access to all the computer files."

"Of course," Artemis nodded her consent. She showed the Boy Wonder where the USB port was on the kitchen countertop and logged in for him. She left Batman to wander around the apartment on his own. He did just that and mentally cataloged anything that could be used to find Cass. Roy disappeared into the bedroom closet for a moment before stalking back out with a pale blue hat box in his hands.

"This might help. I found it earlier." The Bat took it and Roy left the apartment soon after that claiming that he needed to get to his hotel room. Minutes later, Artemis came into the bedroom where he was snooping and stating that she needed to head home as well. He hardly paid attention to the blonde. Instead he was engrossed in the pictures that had been placed inside the hat box. There was one in particular of Cass, Artemis, and who he assumed was Travis. The three children were about ten or twelve and currently sprawled asleep in what looked to be a disaster zone. Blankets and pillows covered practically every inch of the floor and couch. Artemis was curled up in an arm chair with her arms wrapped protectively around Travis's arm. Travis himself was half on the arm chair, half off. His limbs where placed at awkward angles and bent half hazardously. There were what looked like pieces of popcorn in his hair. Little Cass was tucked in the small gap between the arm chair and couch, curled up much the same way Artemis was. Only instead of holding an arm in her death grip, Cass held a large bowl of popcorn. Bruce (because as hard as he tried he was having trouble keeping the Batman persona up) wondered why this picture was affecting him. Why this girl was affecting him. He couldn't think of an obvious reason as to _why_ , but this girl was affecting him. Bruce was feeling something like when he first decided to take Dick in.

"Hey, Batman." Speak of the devil. Batman turned towards Robin.

"Yes, Robin?" The little bird gestured for him to follow him back into the kitchen.

"You're going to want to see this." Was all he said on the matter. When Batman could read the holoscreen it took all his willpower to not just stop and stare. There was a long, long list of names pulled up. The Bat had an uneasy idea as to who they were. He tapped one at random and another screen was pulled up containing details of the man's life. His name, age, relationships, family – everything was listed here. At the bottom of the information was a very detailed and descriptive account of how Cass killed him. It was more than Bruce ever wanted to know about this man's death. Cass had even listed what she knew about the people who had hired her to kill him. As if sensing Batman's slight horror, Robin spoke up.

"Yeah, that's about what I thought when I found it." That was when Batman decided and Bruce took a backseat. He and Robin would find this girl as fast as they could. Then he would do some internal digging and figure out just why this girl was affecting him.

 **LineBreak**

It was days later when the pair finally managed to locate Cass in Japan. They aren't sure what she's doing there, but their interest is peaked and the Dynamic Duo are on the Batjet as soon as possible. They're mentally reviewing Cass's possible reactions and making plans to counteract them. The jet lands in a deserted parking lot on the edges of Tokyo. Thankfully it's dark already and the pair doesn't have to wait any longer. They take to the rooftops and become nothing more than shadows. The building that Cass is suspected of being in is a tall skyscraper with no signifying signs. It blends in perfectly with the surrounding city. Batman double checks his information and gives Robin a nod.

"Let's move." Robin lets out his signature cackle and grapples across the street. It's a good thing that everyone below the pair is too busy to look up.

 **LineBreak**

Cass wakes up when the metal door opens with its usual dramatic clang. She bites back a groan that rises when the pain hits her due to her return to conciseness. Her eyes burn against the bright light of the cell and she wishes for nothing more than to be able to tear her current _host_ apart limb by limb. The man walks in with his usual cockiness, his cane swinging lightly by his side. Edward Panet is a tall, thin Asian man with black hair that was just starting to go gray. Everything about this man confused Cass. Panet was coincidentally one of the few people in the world who knew that Cassandra Blake was Ghost due to dealings with her uncle. He was also very high up in Triad circles and when they had found out that she was in Tokyo, well… They felt it was necessary to welcome her to their city. Still, Panet had made sure to protect her identity and placed her traditional mask the moment they had grabbed her. It had been three days since then.

"Good morning Miss. Ghost. How are you feeling today?" Her head lolled against the back of the chair.

"I'm feelin great. Your hoshpitality knows no bounds." The words came out slightly slurred thanks to the IV that was currently pumping disorienting drugs into her system. They would numb the pain; but they made her tongue just a little looser and kept her from concentrating enough in order to use her Meta ability. Panet gave a small chuckle.

"Yes, I figured your response would be something sarcastic. Do you feel like enlightening me on any of my earlier questions?"

"Depends. Would you mind repeatin them?" His small smirk thinned and Cass was pretty sure she just saw an eye twitch.

"Very well. They are as follows:

What are you doing in Tokyo?

Where is your associate?

And finally…" Panet suddenly lurched forwards until his face was inches from Cass's.

"Where is the money you stole?" Cass glared at the man. She suddenly spit a mixture of blood and saliva onto his face. Panet grimaced and pulled a handkerchief from his dark suit. Without another word spoke at the teenager he turned and limped through the door. Several seconds later another man came back in. The hulking mass of muscle was the typical hired grunt but Cass had already become very familiar with this man, his temper, and his fist. In fact she was fairly certain that she was going to be reacquainted with all of it when alarms started blaring. The shrill sound grated against Cass's ears and she shut her eyes in an attempt to stave off the growing headache. Grunt hesitated a minute before giving her one good punch to the jaw and backing out the door. This time, Cass did let out a groan. She closed her eyes as her head dipped down to her chest.

"Robin to Batman, I found Ghost." Her head snapped up at the voice and promptly fell back down. The fast action had caused some sudden dizziness which did not help her headache.

"Hey we're gonna get you out of here." Hands swiftly pulled out the IV in her arm and undid the ropes binding her to a chair. She saw a gloved hand reaching towards her cheek out of the corner of her eye. Cass flinches slightly. The hand hesitated for a split second before continuing its journey. Her head was gently turned towards the hand's owner.

"You need to stay awake. I can't carry you out of here at the very least you're going to have to hold some of your weight." The words took a moment to process. She was kind of distracted by the black, domino mask and yellow _R_ placed on the red torso. Once they did register she gave a small nod of acknowledgement. The boy – Robin her mind supplied – pulled her arm over his shoulders and helped hoist her up. She wobbled a little on unsteady feet and leaned heavily into the vigilante.

"Okay, one step at a time." The words were spoken more to himself than Cass. The hand that wasn't currently around her waist reached towards his ear.

"Yeah B? We're going to need a little help… Sublevel three… Thanks." Robin shifted Cass's weight a little as they continued to make slow progress down the hall. He continued to talk nonsense words of encouragement in a quiet voice while her ribs screamed in protest.

"Come on stay traught, Ghost."

"Was traught?" She slurred. Robin gave a small laugh.

"It was word I made up. It means the opposite of distraught because…"

"'Cause it lost the dis."

"Yup! Good to know I'm not the only one it makes sense to!" Cass wanted to laugh but could work up the energy. They had reached an intersection when a voice called out down the hall.

"Hey, stop!"

"Whoops, guess we're not going that way!" Robin made to turn left in the intersection but was blocked by an incoming unit. He leaned Cass against the wall and held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay. You got me." He waited before one of the guards approached with handcuffs in his hands before spinning into action. Robin grabbed the hand of the guard and twisted around to send his elbow into the guy's temple. Without waiting for anyone else to make their move Robin dropped a smoke capsule and began taking the goons out one by one with acrobatic fluidness and trick birdarangs. By the time the smoke cleared all four men were on the floor either unconscious or close to it. He gently pulled Cass from the wall. Blood lay smeared where she had stood. They had only made it a couple of steps when one of the goons from behind managed to grab Cass and put a gun to her head.

"Y-yo-you take an-another step and I'll blow her b-brains out!" His voice was shaky and full of stutters as he dragged her back. Robin went to follow but the trigger happy fellow pushed the gun further into her temple and twitched his finger. The man wasn't bluffing. She was just about to raise a hand to the man's head to see if she could do something when a batarang embedded itself into the man's hand. Due to the pain, the gun was dropped… and so was Cass. Without any support her body had firmly declared that it was done working and had started pulling her into unconsciousness. Her knees hit the floor with a thud that seemed quieter than it should have been. In fact everything seemed muffled. She knew that Robin had launched forwards to take out the goon and that a dark mass was quickly moving towards her, but very little sound penetrated through the suffocating bubble that surrounded her. Her body pitched forwards and she half expected to meet the floor when strong arms caught her. She felt herself being cradled to a dark chest like she was a child, but Cass wasn't able to make anything else out as her mind let go and she vanished into unconsciousness.

 **LineBreak**

 **What's this, I updated on time?! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for your follows, favorites, and reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

**So, because of the fact that I was late to post this week, you get an extra long chapter. This one's 6,587 words when my chapters are usually about 3,000.**

 **Warning: Briefly mentions attempted suicide (like it's one sentence) and there are mentions of torture. There are warnings for the torture scene where to skip if you need to. If I need to change/remove/warn for that one sentence for anyone let me know.**

The moment the Dynamic Duo reached the Batjet, they were setting bandaging and stitching all they could. Bruce wanted to give her some painkillers, but he had no idea what drugs they had been pumping her with during her time there. He wasn't willing to risk making anything worse by giving her more drugs. No matter how much he wanted to. The long flight back to the cave was tense. Both the detective and his partner were worried about the girl currently strapped in the back. When they were flying over America again, Bruce commed Alfred with a request for Leslie to be at the cave as soon as possible. The older man was most likely confused since Bruce hadn't told him the topic of his most recent search. But Alfred had only raised a quizzical eyebrow, affirmed that Leslie would be present, asked if the pair were alright, and suggested that he make some coffee and cookies. An hour later Leslie was wheeling Cass's gurney off the jet and towards medical. She firmly denied Bruce of Alfred any entry to the infirmary despite Bruce's numerous protests. He didn't dare go against Leslie's orders. It was another forty-five minutes of tense waiting and lots of coffee before Leslie came back out.

"I had to do some stitches and reset a bone or two but no surgery was needed. She should make a full recovery in a week or so." Bruce - with his cowl now down – gave Leslie a thankful nod.

"I very much doubt that it's going to be a whole week." Dick piped up from his place in the large Batcomputer chair. Leslie gave Dick a questioning look but didn't prompt the matter any further.

"I can't say the same about her emotional health." She said to Bruce.

"What do you mean?" Leslie gave a long sigh.

"There are several scars that worry me. This young lady has tried to take her own life before, Bruce. At least twice. There are other scars of torture as well." That worried Bruce. The fact that Cass had tried to take her own life several times before hand did not bode well for her mental status.

"Thank you for coming, Leslie."

"No problem. I'll see myself out, Alfred." Her heals clicked across the cave as she stepped into the elevator. The butler turned towards Robin.

"Master Dick, might I suggest that you head to bed. You do have school and a test tomorrow." Both Bruce and Dick knew that it wasn't really a request and if Dick ever wanted any cookies again, he had better listen. He slid out of the giant chair made his way towards the locker rooms in order to change into his civies. Alfred turned to Bruce.

"I suppose it would be too much to hope that you would do the same Master Bruce."

"I'm not going to sleep tonight, Alfred. I'm hoping to be present when Cass wakes up." The man gave a deep sigh.

"As you wish Master Bruce. I shall warm up the coffee pot." Bruce gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, Alfred." The man gave a small nod and left the cave. Bruce turned around and pulled the cowl back up, he had a long night ahead of him.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

When Cass woke up she kept absolutely still. Her memory of the past few hours (or was it days) was a little fuzzy. She wanted to be sure that everything was safe. The lack of restraints was a noticeable and nice change. This put her more on edge.

"You can stop pretending." The gruff voice spoke out. Cass instantly snapped to alertness. She knew that voice. He sat in a seat at the end of the bed. Once she realized who he was Cass instantly backpedaled as far as she could go in the bed. Pain stabbed through her body and she winced. Her eyes darted between the cowl covered Batman and the only door she could see.

"Relax; I'm not going to hurt you." His voice had seemed to take on a softer tone. Cass wasn't fooled. There was only one reason for her to be in this place with The Batman sitting across from her. He knew she was Ghost.

"What do you want?" She was proud that her voice hadn't come out with a stutter or a break. In fact, she sounded like her normal self with the exception of its slight roughness from lack of use.

"I don't want anything. What do you remember about the past couple of days?" Her tongue darted out to lick her lips as she thought about it.

"I remember all of it. Well, most of it. My memories from Japan are a little blurry."

"You remember the explosion?"

"Yes." A hand reached up to fiddle with her hair. She half expected to see the dyed red but was pleasantly surprised to see her hair was once again its normal white. She stared at it for several seconds as if trying to make sense of it.

 _The dye must have worn out sometime in the past couple of days._ Hair dye had a tendency to wear out quickly with her hair. It was useful if she wanted to change her persona, but not so useful when she was trying to color it long term.

"Master Batman I saw from the surveillance feed that the young lady had awakened. I thought she might be in need of some comfort food."

Cass's head had snapped towards the new person. Her body automatically angled itself so that she was in optimal position if either man attacked. The new man was wearing a simple silver mask and held a plate of cookies in his hand. He took several steps forwards and placed the cookies on the small table next to Cass. Her slight flinch as he approached was either unnoticed or unacknowledged. Given the fact that this man worked (and quite possibly lived) with Batman, she had very little doubt that he hadn't seen it. She kept herself from attacking and most likely killing the man. He hadn't done anything yet. As the door slid shut behind him Cass returned her full attention to Batman. Neither said anything for several moments as Batman seemed to study her. She squirmed under the stare and rubbed some warmth back into her shoulders and arms. That was when she noticed that all she wore was a tank top and sweatpants. The fact that someone had changed her was a little disturbing, but she was more worried about the fact that she was showing more skin then she did even when asleep. She glanced around for something to cover herself. The blanket was bunched up at the end of the bed. It was far too close to the Bat for her to want to get it. She did anyways. In an instant her hand had darted out and pulled the blanket around her shoulders. The dark figure had tensed at her sudden movement but made no move to stop her. The tension left once he saw what she was doing. The blanket around her would limit her movement but she would be less likely to accidently damage some equipment or kill someone.

"You should eat a cookie." The fact that Batman had spoken had caught her slightly by surprise. The words he spoke did more than that. She gave his a look questioning his sanity.

"You want me to eat a cookie?"

"They're good. Agent A makes the best I've ever eaten." She glanced at them. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a good, homemade cookie. On the other hand, they could be drugged. Reading her wary look the Dark Knight spoke again.

"They aren't drugged."

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

"Because any drugs given to you now could kill you. We still aren't sure what you were given in Japan or if any of it is still in your system. It's better to be safe than sorry. There's no chance of us drugging you for the next twenty-four hours." A small smirk accompanied this statement.

"Was that a joke? Did The Batman just make a joke?" She made a show of looking around the room.

"Where's my phone I need to record that!" Never the less, Cass hesitantly reached out for a cookie. Once one was safely snagged in her hand she quickly pulled her arm back to the safety of the blanket. She took a small nibble and continued to watch Batman out of the corner of her eye.

"Wow. Okay this is good." She gave him a sly look.

"You know what would be better though? Coffee," she answered her own question.

"No coffee." The answer was quick and without hesitation. Cass's shoulders slumped and she gave a sigh.

"Fine." There was another long, awkward pause.

"Don't you have questions for me?" She asked while nibbling more on the cookie.

"Yes, but they can wait until you feel better." Cass stared at him for a long minute.

"Can I at least have some clothes that cover more?" Batman stood to leave.

"I'll see what I can dig up. For now, know that we aren't trying to hurt you but we will if you leave this room. I have business I need to take care of. We can continue this conversation tonight." He left with a swish of his cape a moment later.

"What conversation?" Cass asked the empty room. She settled back into the bed. As much as she would love to move to a better protected spot, say _under_ the bed, it hurt far too much to move. She glanced at the plate of cookies again.

 _I really shouldn't._

"Ah, to H*** with it!" Cass grabbed another cookie off the plate. After all, she would need the energy if she wanted to heal herself.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

The moment Robin entered the cave; Artemis had latched onto his elbow and pulled him into the soundproof therapy room. The calming waterfall must not have been helping Artemis because she looked absolutely livid.

"What is going on?" Her question was full of force and anger.

"What's going on with what?" Robin couldn't resist the chance to push her buttons.

"I mean, what's going on with Cass? Have you found anything yet?" He was going to say some sarcastic remark back to her, but the desperation in Artemis's voice stopped him.

"Relax Artemis." He unhooked her hand from his elbow. "We found Cass, she's recovering. The moment Bats gives the go ahead you will be allowed to see her." Artemis's eyes narrowed behind her mask.

"I didn't ask for your help just for you to throw her in prison Bird Brain." Robin rolled his eyes even though the angry archer couldn't see it.

"Again, relax. As far as I know Bats has no plans of throwing her in prison. He's just going to give her some options for her future." Tension seemed to dissipate off of Artemis in waves.

"I'm just worried." Robin gave a smirk.

"I know. Hey, are you going to the Halloween party tomorrow?" The pair headed out door and back towards the main area. Kaldur gave them a strange look when he passed them.

"Yeah I plan to."

"Asterous. You'll have to tell me all about Wally's horrible dance moves." This gained a laugh from Artemis.

"I'll do you one better. I'll video it." Robin let out a cackle and high fived the girl.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

Halfway across the country, Cass was getting bored. She was currently patching herself up the best she could. She used her Meta abilities to gently start to mend her broken ribs, but healing herself (or anyone) took a long time, lots of concentration, and no small amount of energy. It had been two hours since the Bat left and an hour since she started and she had only managed to fix one rib with a small break. She was startled out of her task when the door slid open again. In walked the butler from earlier. Agent A, if she recalled correctly. He carried something under his arm, though Cass had trouble determining what is was. She pulled the blanket back up around her as he moved closer.

"Pardon me, Miss but I thought you might be bored. Would you be interested in a game or two of chess?" Her mood brightened a little.

"A game of chess sounds good." He cleared the table and pulled the chair to sit on the other side. A board was unfolded and a bag full of pieces slid over to her. She chuckled a little at the irony of her getting the black pieces while Agent A got the white. They set the pieces up and the battle began. She found herself intrigued by the competition though she wasn't much competition for Agent. He managed to checkmate her within two minutes. The man gave her a mischievous look.

"Shall we try again, Miss?" Cass, full of competitive spirit agreed. That was how Bruce found them hours later though they had long ago moved from Chess to Backgammon to Go Fish and finally to Uno. He watched from the doorway as Cass gave a smirk and slapped down a plus four.

"Green." She called out. The Dark Knight could see that she was still timid and more than a little wary – her voiced hadn't gotten much louder and she still kept the blanket around her shoulders despite the comfortable and competitive atmosphere – but she was also much more relaxed then he had ever seen her. Even more relaxed than she had seemed as Ghost.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Alfred turned his head, though he showed no surprise. He had probably known that he was there from the moment he reached the cave. Cass however, showed great surprise and Batman found himself wondering how the girl had ever become an assassin. She was, after all, _facing_ the door. She had jumped only slightly, but it was more than any good assassin would normally do.

"Not at all Master Batman, I believe you have just saved me from a rather unfortunate demise at the Miss's hands. She may not be that great at chess, but she is _very_ good with a deck of cards." Cass gave a light blush and avoided his gaze. Sheepishly she pulled several cards from under the mattress and put them on the table. Alfred gave his nod of approval before scooping up the piles and retreated out the room.

"I'll leave you two to talk." The door slid shut with a quiet _whoosh_.

"How did he know?" The question was likely more to herself than himself but he answered anyways.

"Because he's Agent A."

"You say that as if it explains everything."

"Doesn't it?" She gave a small snort and rolled her eyes.

"No, not really."

"Huh. I thought it did."

"Was that another joke?"

"You don't seem to have much of a sense of humor."

"I have a sense of humor… It's just weird that you have one." He gave her another smirk.

"You members of the Batfamily sure do smirk a lot."

"It's a necessary factor if you want to be a member." Cass didn't reply. Batman sat down on the recently vacated chair.

"We need to talk." Cass glanced away.

"Is this the part where you ask a lot of questions about my past in order to try and find my motives?"

"Close, but no. We need to talk about the possible options for your future."

"Oh. This should be fun." He ignored the comment.

"You currently have two options: Belle Rev or community service."

"What lovely choices I have." She glared at the bed she sat upon. The Bat just sat a waited for an answer.

"What type of community service? You don't expect me to scrape graffiti off of walls to make up for murder, do you?"

"There's a covert operations team made up of the various partners of the Justice League. You would join them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want me to join your little group of heroes as a form of community service? Are you nuts?"

"Is that a no?" Cass hesitated.

"You really don't want me on that team. How would you even make sure that I wouldn't run or accidentally kill someone or purposefully kill someone?"

"If you weren't wanted on the team, the offer wouldn't have been extended to you. We have several ways of preventing you from killing anyone, accidently or not. To prevent you from running you would live with a member of the League."

"Some League member is going to trust me with their secret ID? Right." She rolled her eyes. "How long would this last?"

"Until we feel that you're reformed." Cass rubbed her shoulders. This had been what she had been thinking about for the past couple of days, now she had a clear excuse to get out of the contract killer business.

 _But what about Travis?_ A little voice in her head questioned. She couldn't just leave him behind.

"What about Tr – Circuit?"

"You and Travis would be allowed video calls. They would, of course, have to be monitored. At least at the beginning." Cass didn't bother questioning how he knew that Circuit was Travis. She gave a sigh.

"Okay, community service it is. When do I start? And who am I living with?"

"Tomorrow, and me." He stood up and pulled the cowl back; revealing the famous face behind it. Cass was effectively shocked speechless.

"Y-y-you're Batman?" This time the Bat – _Bruce_ – gave a genuine smile.

"Your detective skills are getting better."

"Shut up." The girl grouched out the sentence. Bruce had moved towards the door again but paused just outside it.

"Are you coming?" She faltered for a minute before trailing after him, blanket and all. She looked in slight awe at the large cave they were in. It was somewhat warm for a cave in the late fall. A giant computer made up of several monitors rested in the center and around the cave were various weapons racks, training equipment, and two mannequins for suits.

"Stay here." He gestured to her before heading off into a side room. When he came back out, Bruce walked over to the empty mannequin and proceeded to attach his suit to it. This time he was in civilian clothes which were fairly casual. He wore a simple knit sweater and jeans. Bruce again gestured for her to follow him. They made their way up an elevator and stepped out in a modern office. Cass took note of the clock the elevator was hidden behind.

"So, am I correct in assuming that this is Wayne Manor?"

"That would be correct." Cass noticed that his voice seemed less gruff then it was while he was Batman. It would make sense to change it to be more intimidating and to stave off possible recognition. The pair moved towards the kitchen where they came across Agent A without his mask.

"Ah. I see the young lady accepted your proposal Master Bruce." He held out a hand for Cass to shake.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Alfred Pennyworth, Master Bruce's butler and dare I say friend." She took a moment before shaking the man's hand. The only reason she had done so was because he was wearing gloves.

"Cassandra." She offered no last name and Alfred didn't push.

"It's nice to meet you Miss. Cassandra."

"Just Cass."

"Miss. Cass."

"No just Cass…" She trailed off at the look Alfred was giving her. Bruce gave a chuckle.

"I'd give it up, once Alfred's set on something his mind can't be changed." Alfred gave Bruce a wry stare but choose to ignore the comment.

"Miss. Cass when was the last time you ate anything?"

"Um… The cookies from earlier." Alfred gave a long sigh.

"Let me rephrase; when was the last time you had a full meal?"

"A full meal? Just as I reached Japan, I don't know how long ago that was." Alfred looked at Bruce as if he could give the numbers.

"That would have been close to four days ago." Bruce was giving her a concerned look.

"You could have said something earlier," he admonished. Alfred had stiffened at this admission.

"Yes you could have. Come I'll make you something to eat. I must insist that you leave the blanket here though, Miss. Cass." Her eyes widened slightly and darted around briefly as if looking for an escape. Bruce's firm hand at her back pushed her a step forwards after Alfred. Hungry and not wanting to offend the Alfred, she slowly pulled off the blanket. Warm air hit her bare shoulders. Bruce took the blanket from her and tossed it onto a couch not far away. She pushed through the kitchen door and took a seat at the breakfast nook. Cass felt terrified. Not at the people in the room but more because of what she could do to them if she slipped up. She wanted to wrap her arms around her shoulders to minimize bare skin, but it wouldn't do any good. So, Cass sat in the wooden chair ramrod straight and completely tense.

"Relax," Bruce said. She gave him a look that clearly asked how she should do that while subtly shifting into an optimal position. Alfred busied around the kitchen chopping vegetables and boiling water in pots. Bruce was pretty sure his heart broke a little when Cass had finally settled in the chair. Besides the obvious tension, the teenager's eyes were darting around and tracking any and all movement. And despite how subtly she had shifted in order to see himself, Alfred, and the door – Bruce had noticed. It wasn't hard to tell that she was completely uncomfortable with the amount of skin showing (Bruce suspected that it had nothing to do with the amount of brutal scars showing). The tank top the girl was wearing wasn't even spaghetti straps. He mentally cursed himself for not bringing other clothes for the girl to wear. Brue wanted to throttle whoever had made Cass like this; even Dick hadn't been this jumpy or wary when he first came to live with him. The pair continued to sit in silence as Alfred cooked. Bruce had a feeling that trying to start a conversation right now would be futile. Finally the man came back over with two steaming plates of what looked like orange chicken, rice, and peas.

"Thank you Alfred." The man nodded before retrieving his own plate. (It had become a custom long ago that despite any misgivings that Alfred may have, he had to eat with the family.) Once all three people were seated and eating did Alfred try for a conversation.

"Miss. Cass after everyone is finished I can take you to your room. I assume you would like to change?" A very small amount of tension left the girl's shoulders as she nodded.

"That would be great. Thanks Mr. Pennyworth." Alfred almost looked scandalized for a moment.

"Miss. Cass, my name is Alfred not Mr. Pennyworth." He said it firmly but kindly, leaving no doubt in Cass's mind about his preference.

"Okay then Alfred."

"Much better Miss. Cass, thank you." She nodded.

"We're going to leave Artemis in the dark until we take you to join the team. I can't have her here and she doesn't know my secret identity." Cass frowned but said nothing. If it was what Bruce wanted, she would listen. The rest of the meal was spent with Alfred trying to have a conversation with Cass and her only giving one word answers and vague information. She never actually gave anything that would tell them more about her character and history. Eventually, Alfred was satisfied that Cass had eaten enough to take her to her room. Bruce took the opportunity to pick up Dick from school. As Alfred directed her to her room Cass was spending half of her brain power trying to comprehend what had happened the past couple of days. She had gotten blown up and awakened with a years worth of memories missing, had run away from Artemis and Travis, had gotten captured and tortured by the Triad in Japan, and was now being led to her room by Batman's butler, and Batman had revealed to her that he was Bruce Wayne. She rubbed her forehead gently. What was she going to tell Roy?

 _Roy! What was she going to tell Roy?_ Last she had checked the guy knew nothing about her! She had also dropped him on the roof at the mall! Cass gave an audible groan.

 _This just keeps getting better and better. Well, you wanted to break up with him._ Except that she had wanted to break up with him mainly because she was scared that he would hate her when he found out she was an assassin for hire. Would it be so bad if he found out she was playing hero?

"Miss. Cass, are you alright?" Alfred's question broke her out of her internal musings. She hadn't realized that they had stopped in front of a door.

"Yeah, just thinking about the past couple of days." Alfred gave an understanding nod and gestured at the room they stood in front of.

"This is your room; you're free to decorate it how you wish. I just ask that if you leave the house you take someone with you. You're clothes have already been brought as have most of your things. Dinner will be in four hours I expect you to be in the dinning room then."

"Of course, thank you Alfred." After a slight nod, the butler turned and left muttering about dusting the chandelier as he passed. Cass pushed open the door. Inside were several boxes containing what Cass guessed were her things. The room was spacious and airy. The floors were a dark hardwood and the walls a standard white. Against a corner sat a queen sized bed and next to it was an antique end table. The rest of the room was a blank slate. There were two doors on one wall Cass assumed they were her bathroom and closet. Opening the first door, she was correct to see a spacious bathroom. It looked just like any bathroom except it was more modern than most. The dark wood floors had continued, but the walls were a pale, sunny yellow with orange backsplash over the sink and in the shower. The counters were a beautiful white stone with minimal patterns. Cass ducked back out and moved on to the closet. She instantly felt much better. There, lined up with precise accuracy on each side, were all of her clothes from both Gotham and New York.

 _Artemis or Travis must have grabbed them from the apartment in New York._

The rows of dresses, shirts and shoes formed a comfortable atmosphere that Cass was all too used to. She opened one of the three drawers at the end and was pleased to find that it contained her pants. Another contained her undergarments. The last one was a type of jewelry box. The drawer contained several layers that could be pulled out, each layer already held all her jewelry. She reminded herself to thank Bruce and Alfred for thinking to bring her things here. Deciding that she needed to get out of the tank top and sweats, Cass grabbed an outfit and headed back to the bathroom. She placed the clothes in a pile on the counter and carefully stripped of her clothes. She had been able to ignore the pain in her body so far, but it was gradually getting worse. Cass made a mental note to heal more of her ribs. She slipped into the glass shower and began to get the grime from the past couple of days off her. After so much stress, she was finally starting to relax. That was when the flashback hit.

 **(Mentions of torture, might want to skip if it's triggering.)**

 _She was nine and Uncle Remy was teaching her how to resist questioning._

 _"We'll start off easy," he said. He gently pushed her towards the bathtub that was already filled with water._

 _"Get in." She looked back at him._

 _"But I don't want to take a bath!" She pouted._

 _"You're not going to take a bath…" Uncle Remy took a deep breath and knelt to her level._

 _"Look Cassie, people are going to want to use you. They're going to want to make you tell them things. They'll use certain methods to do that. You can't tell them anything. All I'm going to do is show you how to beat these tactics. Okay?" She gave a little nod and climbed in the bathtub._

 _"Alright, I'm going to show you what they'll do once, then I'll teach you how to beat it." Without any warning he pushed her head down under the water and held it there for ten seconds. When she came back up she was gasping for air and her eyes were wide._

 _"Alright you did good, kid. Are you okay?" Cass gave a small nod._

 _"Okay now, when they go to push you under you take a deep breath. Then when you're under you struggle for a couple seconds, like five then go limp. You stay limp and you continue to hold your breath until they pull you back up, okay? 'Cause they will pull you back up and you have to be ready to repeat the process. You got that?"_

 _"Y-yeah."_

 _"Good. We're gonna practice, you ready?"_

 **(This is a good place to pick up.)**

Cass snapped herself out of the memory before it could get worse. She fumbled for the shower lever to turn it off. The moment it was, she picked herself up off the shower floor, stepped onto the bathroom floor, grabbed a towel, and curled up in a corner. After she felt like she could breathe again, Cass pushed the memory to the back of her mind and moved to get dressed. Dwelling on the past would do no good. Her new outfit consisted of black skinny jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue, knee length cardigan. She felt much better coved and wrapped up in wool. Back in her bedroom, Cass glanced around for something to do. She had just started to unpack some of the boxes when there was a light knock on her door.

"Come in," she called fully expecting it to be either Alfred or Bruce. She should have expected the messy haired teen that came in though. The boy, who had to be Robin/Dick Grayson, was in casual clothes.

"Heh, does Artemis know that the annoying freshman that's been bugging her at school is actually Robin?" Dick gave a little blush.

"No not really." There was an awkward silence as Dick stood by the door and Cass sat next to one of the various boxes.

"Well, don't just stand there. Make yourself useful." She waved a hand at her current project. Dick quickly moved forwards to help unpack.

"So, you're joining the team?" He questioned while pulling out various books and placing them on the floor. Cass gave him a little smile.

"I didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or Belle Rev."

"You could have broken out of Belle Rev." Dick said it with such certainty that she wondered what exactly he knew about her abilities and accomplishments.

"Maybe, maybe not. But community service seemed okay."

"Is that what he called it? Community service?" Dick seemed incredulous and Cass couldn't help the chuckle that came out.

"Yeah. He's not the best with words, is he?"

"Oh no, he's very good with words. Just not when he has to come up with them." Cass snorted.

"And yet Bruce is a business man."

"People write his speeches for him."

"They do not." The denial came from the doorway were Bruce was leaning against the frame. It was Dicks turn to snort.

"Da Nile isn't just a river in Egypt, Bruce." Said man raised an eyebrow at his son's jab.

"Whatever you say Dick. Alfred says that dinner's almost ready, you might want to come down before he drags you." Bruce turned away. Both Cass and Dick got up and followed him into the dinning room. Dick was trying to explain his words to Cass, though he wasn't having much luck.

"…So whelmed is kinda in between overwhelmed and underwhelmed."

"But if you are whelmed then you would not likely be whelmed because you are, in fact, whelmed." Dick's face broke into a grin.

"Now you're getting it!" Bruce bit back a groan. The last thing they needed was another person who spoke in riddles. Alfred brought out the meal, a simple cordon bleu with asparagus. They all thanked the man and tucked in.

"So… Um… I sorta have a boyfriend; do you have any idea what he's been told the past couple of days?" She looked up at Bruce quizzically.

"I suppose you'd find out soon enough. Roy Harper knows the basics. He only knows that though because he has the clearance." Bruce didn't meet her narrowed gaze.

"Okay, first off, what do you consider _basics_ and what do you mean clearance?" Dick slouched in his chair slightly and watched with wide eyes.

"Roy is Red Arrow, formally Speedy."

"I'm sorry what?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself?" Cass's mouth opened and closed several times.

"Roy, is Red Arrow?"

"Yup, can we change the topic now?" Dick burst in. Cass didn't bother to hide her displeasure at the situation but she grated Dick his request. She was already starting to think of him like a younger brother. They started talking about small things; Bruce mentioned some business venture, Dick talked about school, Alfred asked about crime in Gotham, Cass simply ate while half listening to what was actually going on. She realized that Bruce had never told her how much Roy knew exactly. The moment her plate was clear she excused herself and took the plate out to the kitchen. Absentmindedly she started to wash it.

"We do have a washing machine for that you know." Bruce stood at the kitchen island and Cass glanced down at the plate she was holding.

"It's a habit." She continued to wash the plate even though it was probably clean. It gave her something to distract her so she didn't try to kill Bruce. Although she wasn't quite sure why she was mad at him. All she could figure was that Bruce's announcement had not only been the straw that broke the camels back – but it had provided her with a target as well. A hand reached out and stopped her frantic washing. She froze at the contact. Bruce's hand was laying over hers, and she wasn't wearing gloves.

 _I could kill him. Right now, no question no hesitation. I'm sure someone wants him dead._ The thoughts were all too tempting. She jerked her hand away before she could act on them.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Bruce gave a sigh.

"Yes. We need to talk."

"Again with the talks. All you want to do is talk."

"Put the plate down and meet me in my study." He turned to retreat.

"I could just not show up." She called to his back.

"You could." Cass growled and dried the plate off. She debated for a moment about retiring to her room and ignoring the Bat or asking Dick for directions. A little huff escaped through her nose as she tossed the towel back onto the table and set the plate next to it. Dick was in the living room working on homework. He glanced up when she came in.

"Up the stairs, right hallway, third door on the left." She paused with her mouth still open. Seeing her questioning look, Dick explained.

"I know that look. I've gotten plenty of serious talks from Bruce in his office."

"Thanks." Dick gave her a wave and she moved towards the office. She knocked lightly on the door she soon stood in front of.

"Come in." Bruce was sitting in the chair behind the desk doing paperwork. She took a seat across the table from him. He folded his hands and gave her a soothing look, completely destroying any imposing image he could have had at the moment.

"To answer your earlier question, Roy knows that you're Ghost. He knows that you're a Meta. That's all I know for sure that Roy knows. He had spent the day with Artemis and Travis so he might know something else I don't because of that. If you want to find out what he knows or what he thinks then you'll have to talk to him directly." Cass slumped. Not only did Roy know she was an assassin and a Meta but he might know more. Bruce looked down at his hands.

"I know that's not what you wanted to hear." A brief pause.

"Cass, I want to know more about you." He looked at her again.

"What do you want to know?"

"I want to know about your uncle." She stiffens but relents. Cass knows she owes Bruce some answers, that doesn't mean she'll just hand them over to him.

"Be more specific."

"Was it him who got you involved in what you do?" Cass shrugged.

"In a way. He already had me involved in several illegal activities, but when my Meta abilities kicked in he took it to a whole new ballpark. I had already killed; he just took that and refined on it."

"You had already killed?" This time Cass wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I was twelve when my abilities first manifested. I had my first kiss and my abilities made themselves known at that very moment."

"He died." Bruce stated it simply and without emotion. Cass did look up at him; she needed Bruce to see what she really was.

"No. I killed him." Suddenly Bruce was moving from behind his desk and kneeling in front of her.

"Look and listen to me. You did _not_ kill that boy. What happened was an _accident_ ; you should not blame yourself for it." Cass blinked. What Bruce was telling her now was the complete opposite of what she had believed since she was twelve. It was the complete opposite of what she'd been told. Sure Artemis and Travis had told her that it wasn't her fault, but she didn't believe them. Not like she did believe Bruce now.

"How can you say that? It was my gift that killed him."

"It may have been your gift, but it wasn't you." She shook her head slightly. Bruce sighed. He knew that getting Cass to believe what he said would take time. But he was willing to give her that time. Bruce wanted to wipe away the tears that were slowly leaking out, but knew that touching Cass now would not be appreciated.

"Were there any other questions for me?" Her voice was wobbly and Bruce decided that she had had enough.

"No." Just as she was out the door Bruce called out.

"Cass." She turned to face him halfway.

"Thank you for telling me." Her hand tightened around the door handle.

"Goodnight Bruce." Cass turned and fled to her room before Bruce could say anything else.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

 **And that wraps up chapter 9! We;re finally getting to the Batfamily portion of this fic!**

 **Special shout out to** ** _FrostyAngelWings_** **for reviewing almost every chapter!**

 **I know I don't reply very much (because I'm so overwhelmed by every review that I can never think of words to say), but I love every review, favorite, and follow each person give me.**

 ** _NerdySkittlez_** **: I'm glad you like it! I will try to find some time to look into the large text blocks, and fix that my main problem is trying to find a good place to do so.**

 **Preview for next chapter:**

 _Bruce suddenly rounded on the girl._

 _"What did you do?" He yelled and started towards her. Cass seemed to be trying to force herself further into the corner, but her face had become blank._


	10. Chapter 10

**Another really long chapter here. Hope you all enjoy!**

Later that night Cass tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep for long. When she did manage to fall asleep it was in short bursts and full of nightmares. She finally gave up and climbed out of bed. Her long hair was out of its usual braid as she moved towards the closet. She had noticed her hatbox earlier and was pleased to find that her sketchbook and pencils were there. Cass quickly walked over to the arm chair by the window and opened to a blank page. Lines began to form shapes on the page as she completed three portraits that night.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

When morning came, Dick had offered to go and wake Cass up for breakfast. He found her slumped in the arm chair over a sketchbook. Risking a quick glance at it, he was surprised to see his own face staring back at him. He took a closer look. The portrait had been done completely in pencil, but it seemed to come alive. He could practically see the emotion – happiness – in his eyes. It was surreal. He wondered where Cass had learned to draw like that.

Deciding that he had snooped enough, Dick reached out to wake Cass. The moment his hand touched her bare shoulder did he realize his mistake. Sudden pain bombarded his nerves and he hit the floor screaming. He was dimly aware of Cass jerking awake and quickly laying a hand on him. Within seconds the pain had subsided though soreness lingered. Bruce was bursting through the door seconds later with Alfred right on his tail. The moment he saw Dick on the floor he immediately rushed towards him.

"Dick are you okay?" He was frantically checking the boy over for any physical wounds. There were none of course; Cass had directly stimulated his nerves. Dick managed to focus enough to see Cass in the back corner with a panicked look on her face, but he was still too disoriented to respond to – or even make sense of Bruce's question.

"Is he okay?" The question came from the girl in the corner. Bruce suddenly rounded on the girl.

"What did you do?" He yelled and started towards her. Cass seemed to be trying to force herself further into the corner, but her face had become blank.

"Master Bruce, perhaps we should discuss this later when everyone is calm enough to think rationally." Alfred stopped the man with his calm words and a hand on his elbow. Dick finally found his voice as Bruce stood there and glared at Cass.

"I'm fine." He could see Bruce's jaw clench but he managed to reign in his anger. Bruce turned around, scooped Dick up and left without another word. Cass stared after them. Her heart felt like it had broken in two. She had just made the one person who was starting to make her believe in herself again mad at her. No, not mad. Furious. There was no denying it, Bruce was furious with her. And he had every right to be. It was Cass's fault that Dick had been hurt. Cass had only been at the manor for a day, it was logical that Bruce would be mad at her.

"Miss. Cassandra, might I suggest you get changed into a more appropriate attire." She started having thought that Alfred had left the room. Somehow, the fact that Alfred had called her Cassandra instead of Cass hurt more than she thought it would. She gave a small nod and Alfred swept out the door, closing it firmly behind him. Her head thunked against the wall as she slid down it.

 _I should have chosen Belle Rev._ With that happy thought; Cass went to get dressed in another outfit that covered her better.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

When Cass walked into the dining room the first thing Bruce wanted to do was punch himself. He knew that any progress the two of them might have made the previous night had been destroyed with his anger this morning. He knew that Cass had acted instinctually and that it hadn't been her fault, but it still angered him. His ward – his _son ,_ had been on the ground screaming because of that girl. But Bruce also blamed himself. He should have warned Dick that touching Cass on the skin to wake her up probably wasn't a good idea. He should have kept his temper. But he didn't, and now Cass was paying the price.

The girl's face was blank but she refused to look at anyone as she sat down. She glanced briefly at Dick as if to confirm that he was still there but quickly settled to looking at her plate again. Alfred had loaded it with scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon, but she didn't touch any of it. Bruce realized that it was most likely a form of self-punishment. The rest of his anger faded.

"You should eat."

"I'm not very hungry." Cass still didn't glance at him.

"It's not up for debate." Bruce reached over and pushed her plate slightly towards her. Clearly reluctant, Cass picked up the fork and started nibbling on her eggs. Bruce just bit back a sigh and considered what to say.

"I'm okay you know." Dick's words broke the silence.

"You might not have been." Cass countered.

"But I am. I should have known better than to wake the assassin who could kill with a touch by touching her." Much to Bruce's disappointment (and he suspected Alfred's as well) Cass put the fork down.

"Excuse me." Before any of them could stop her she had scurried out of the room and up the stairs. Dick looked confused.

"I said I was fine."

"Master Dick, I believe that Miss Cass is not all convinced that that's the case." Bruce stood up suddenly and followed after the girl. He knocked on her door a couple times, but after no answer decided to let himself in. He found her curled up in the corner of the closet.

"Hey." Bruce slid down next to her. Cass didn't look at him, but he could see her mask beginning to crack.

"Dick is fine, and what happened was not your fault." Cass glared at him

"How can you say that? I stimulated his pain nerves all at once! I could have driven him insane because of the pain! He's your son!" Bruce nodded.

"That could have happened. But it didn't. You stopped it almost as soon as it started, and Dick is fine." There was a brief pause and Cass glanced back at her folded hands.

"I changed my mind." He was confused, what had she changed her mind about?

"I don't want community service, I'd rather Belle Rev." Bruce couldn't stop the sudden inhale, but he supposed that her decision wasn't surprising.

"No." She looked up at him again and glared.

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean no. You've chosen your path; you have to stick with it."

"What if I decided I don't want this path?" Cass voice was getting louder, while Bruce remained calm.

"It's still something you should see through."

"What if I end up killing someone? Killing Dick?"

"I said we have methods to prevent that."

"What methods? There weren't any methods this morning!"

"They'll only be used when you're with the team."

"Then what's the use of them? Why won't you use those methods while I'm here?"

"I will not use them here because I'm trying to teach you that you don't need to be afraid of yourself." She scoffed.

"Right, and not using restrictive methods will do that. No! All that's going to do is get someone killed!" Bruce continued to take her ranting and yelling calmly.

"No one will die." This time he was able to see the tears in her eyes.

"How do you know?"

"Because I trust you." Cass felt the dam break and the tears release. Those four words. Those four ******* ******* words! Those were words she hadn't ever heard. At least, not directed at her. She shook her head.

"Don't say that." Bruce sighed and got up to leave.

"They're true," was the only thing he said as he left. Cass's head hit the wall behind her.

 _I'm going to have a concussion if I keep bumping my head against walls._ She gave a halfhearted chuckle at the thought.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

Outside in the hallway Bruce was having a mental debate about what to do. He had a feeling that any more words from him wouldn't help Cass at the moment. He mentally reviewed Cass's friends; maybe one of them might be able to help. Artemis was off the list, she was going to the team's Halloween party that night, plus she didn't know his secret ID. Travis was crossed off just as fast. Bruce didn't want that little hacker and Cass's evil partner anywhere near his house or his ID. That just left Roy. He seemed to be the perfect choice – he knew who Bruce was, he knew who Cass was, and Bruce could tell he liked the girl.

Bruce gave a firm nod and went to track Harper down. (Because if he was going to continue dating his _sorta-almost-feels like_ daughter, then Bruce was going to start referring to him as Harper. Significant others of his family didn't get first name privileges.) Harper agreed to come over right away and Bruce's dark mood started to lift. Maybe they could get Cass well enough to come on patrol that night since it was Halloween. Most of the Gotham villains laid back somewhat on Halloween night (with the exception of the Joker who was safely locked up in Arkham Asylum) and it would be a perfect time to introduce Cass to the hero business. Roy arrived via Zeta Tube dressed in his civvies.

"You said Cass was here?" Were the first words through his mouth.

"She's upstairs in the room next to Dick's in her closet." Roy gave him an odd look but continued towards Cass anyways. He invited himself inside her room and moved towards her closet.

"Knock knock." He joked as he rapped on the wood. Her head snapped up and the first thing he saw was relief. But then it was marred as it switched to worry and nervousness. Roy was pretty sure he knew why she was so nervous but decided that this would be a long conversation and that he had better sit down. He stared into her eye as he tried to think of something to say. Tried being the key word. Roy ended up just blurting the first thing that came to mind in a very Wally fashion.

"You're eyes are amazing!" And Roy meant it! Cass's eyes weren't like a yellow or tacky gold; the irises looked like they were made of pure metal. They seemed to shimmer in the light and everything. She blushed at the complement but didn't say anything.

"You know I don't care, right?" This seemed to confuse Cass, heck it confused himself.

"What don't you care about?" She questioned.

"Your job, your past, your Meta abilities. I don't care about any of it." Cass gave a sigh as if she had been told this a lot that day.

"You should."

"Maybe, but I don't." He pulled the cup of coffee he had been hiding in his baggy coat out and handed it to her. Her eyes widened and a grin broke out as she snatched the cup. She pulled it up to her nose and gave a long sniff.

"You are amazing." Roy smirked.

"I know." Cass took a small sip of her precious addiction and moaned.

"It's been days!" Roy raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you couldn't go a couple of hours without coffee!"

"Well it wasn't available to me in Japan and I've been so overwhelmed here that I didn't think to ask Alfred for any!" Roy suddenly turned serious.

"So you were in Japan." Cass hesitated.

"Y-yeah. I headed there to hide out, but the Triad found out I was in the city and caught me before I could get very far." Roy stiffened.

"They tortured you." He said it with anger in his voice.

"It wasn't that bad. Anyways, Robin and Batman came and next I know I'm waking up in the cave infirmary and being told that I can either go to Belle Rev. or do community service." Roy sends her a questioning look.

"Community service?"

"Hero work. I have to start patrolling with Batman and then join this sidekick team." Roy nodded.

"I know the team. You should fit right in." He neglects to mention his suspicions of a mole on the team, and that her best friend is one of his top suspects. That would only get her riled up.

"You know the team?"

"Yeah… I was offered a spot but decided to go solo."

"Ah." Thankfully Cass didn't push the topic. Roy stood up and brushed imaginary dust off his jeans before holding out a hand to Cass. She ignored it, not ready to risk physical contact just yet. Roy didn't seem offended, just slightly disappointed. He tilted his head for her to follow him.

"Where are we going?" They seemed to be making their way to the cave again.

"Zeta Tubes. We have to get your coffee levels back up." They passed Bruce on the way, who didn't seem all too concerned about Cass leaving the manor. She supposed it was because Roy would be present. Speaking of Roy, he was currently standing by a silver tube and typing into a control panel.

Curious Cass put a hand against the machine. Her eyes widened at the mass of wires and technology she could sense. This thing was complicated! She put a little more effort into understanding the basics starting at the control panel. Now, Cass didn't know a lot about programming but it seemed that the control panel was sending signals to various biometric scanners. The scanners would then scan the objects it was instructed to scan (Cass realized that they were currently scanning _her_ ) and then continue to file away a large amount of data about her body. Everything to how her DNA was coded to the tracking of certain cells as they moved throughout her body.

It began to click and whir as gears shifted and it prepared to do something. Cass couldn't quite follow the process to figure out its purpose. She was pulled out of her curious probing by Roy who had been watching her with a small smile. Cass had looked more peaceful than he had seen her while she was interfacing with the machine.

"As nice as it is that you're making a new friend," Cass sent him a glare, "we really should get going." He held out his hands as if displaying a great prize.

"Ladies first." Cass raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't that mean you go first?" Roy stared at her for a moment with his mouth ajar though he recovered quickly.

"You do have a sense of humor!" Cass rolled her eyes.

"Brilliant deduction Sherlock." Cass stepped into the tube before Roy could say anything else. She was not happy to find herself completely disoriented in the phone booth moments later. She somehow managed to open the door and get out before Roy came through. She stumbled a few steps away, sure that she was going to throw up. The machine she had just left announced Roy's presence behind her. Roy didn't bother to hide his laughter as he came up behind her.

"Shut up." She growled. Roy held up his hands in a surrendering motion but didn't stop laughing. Cass shivered as she took in her surroundings. They were in a back alley somewhere in Gotham. She could see her breath coming out of her mouth in white puffs and a thin layer of snow rested on the ground. Even through her thick coat and scarf, Cass was still chilly.

Once Roy saw she had composed herself, he gently grabbed her (gloved) hand and pulled her towards the mouth of the alley. Both just enjoyed the comfortable silence as they headed towards a nearby coffee shop. Their hands stay entwined the entire way there. Once they got to the place, Cass ordered the largest black coffee she could find while Roy ordered a hot chocolate. He chose a booth towards the back and when she reached him with their drinks, Cass did something completely unexpected. Rather than slide into the seat across from him, Cass slide into the same side of the booth. She sat as far away from him as she could and kept her jacket and gloves on, but it was close enough that their arms still brushed fairly often.

Roy smiled into his cup. He understood the hidden _we're going to take this very slow_. Maybe he was reading too much into the motion, but that's what it seemed to say to him. Roy was surprisingly okay with this. Usually he followed more in Ollie's footsteps (or his old ones anyways) and would just pick up a girl for the night or if he did go for a relationship it moved forwards quickly. Very quickly. But Cass made him want to slow down; not just because it was what she wanted, but because it was what he wanted too.

"You're doing it again." Cass's words broke him out of his thoughts.

"I'm doing what again?"

"You're staring at me." Cass turned to look at him and suddenly covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to muffle her laughter. Roy's eyebrows furrowed. What was she laughing at?"

"You have a…" she gestured idly at her own upper lip and Roy flushed and quickly wiped off the chocolate mustache. He quickly turned it into a joke.

"What? You don't like the mustache?" Cass rolled her eyes.

"No, I like the 'stache."

"They you wouldn't mind if I grew one."

"Oh, I would mind. You are not growing a mustache."

"I thought you just said that you like the mustache!"

"I did, but I will not kiss a guy with a mustache." Roy gave a dramatic sigh.

"You're so high maintenance!" He exclaimed then what Cass had said caught up with him. He smirked down at the shorter girl.

"Does that mean there'll be more kissing in the future?" She seemed to debate something before coming to a quick decision. Suddenly Cass was leaning up and her lips were on his. It barely lasted a second before she retreated; blushing madly and looking anywhere but at Roy.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Uh huh." Roy's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open. The guy looked like he was in shock and he kept staring at Cass. She suddenly put her mug down.

"Okay, you can stop staring now." Her face was still bright red and Roy realized that his staring probably wasn't helping that and quickly stopped, instead choosing to stare at his hot chocolate. He couldn't help it though. Cass was so cute and when she did things like kiss him suddenly (something he was sure was a huge thing for her) he couldn't help but stare in wonder. He was thankful that their sudden departure from the manor hadn't allowed Cass any time to put her contacts in. Roy really, really liked her eyes. He took a quick glance at the time on his watch.

"We should get you back to the manor. I can hang out with you for a little while there, but both of us left our phones back there and I'm sure either Bruce or Alfred is very worried at the moment." Cass gave a thoughtful nod and stood up to scooch out of the booth, Roy followed.

"Okay." This time as they walked towards the Zeta Tube there was no hand holding. Roy had a feeling that Cass had had as much physical contact that day as she was ready for. When she stepped through the Zeta this time Roy did not find her hunched over and practically throwing up. Cass seemed very pleased at this fact. They moved upstairs and back to Cass's room to find something to do. They ended up playing a very competitive game of Uno.

 **~~LineBreak~~**

When Alfred went to check on Cass later (and to apologize) he found Roy sitting across from the girl as they played Uno. He watched unnoticed from the door frame as Roy managed to make Cass laugh and his smile getting bigger. Alfred gave a smile himself as he thought about the cute couple they made. Though Cass didn't initiate any physical contact and Roy worked hard to only initiate contact when he felt she was ready, the pair seemed to fit perfectly together. They both were teasing and laughing as they tried to one up one another. Alfred realized with great amusement that the pair were extremely competitive. He made a mental note to get Bruce to give Roy the shovel talk. Alfred would be sure to follow it with some threats of his own. Cass noticed him standing in the doorway and gestured for him to come in. Roy twisted halfway to see the man.

"Hey, Alfred! You gonna join us for a game?" Roy called out. The man almost said no, he did have several things to cook and dust. But the cocky smirk Roy held quickly stopped those thoughts. Alfred would teach the boy a thing or two about cards.

And teach him, Alfred did. Cass gave yet another bark of laughter as Alfred not only creamed Roy, but creamed herself as well. And he did so with a calm demeanor; completely opposite of Roy's sour one.

Cass had expected it, Alfred was undoubtedly good at all games and knowing that Alfred would call her on it – she didn't bother to cheat this time. Eventually though, the man had to leave claiming that he had to go pick Dick up before completing his duties. Roy had to go not long after. He said something about a lead for an investigation somewhere in Germany. She let him go.

After twenty minutes of Cass wandering around the empty manor in a bored… well… manner, Cass decided that she might as well draw something. She quickly scooped up a sketchbook other than her portraits, grabbed her pencils and markers, and headed outside. It was colder than it had been earlier, but she had thankfully put on a warmer coat. She headed towards the woods at the edge of the estate and quickly climbed up as high as she could go in one of the giant pines. Her sketchbook was brought out and Cass flipped to a new page. She carefully balanced her drawing instruments on a nearby branch and angled herself towards the manor.

She could just barely see the tops of the windows of the top floor over the trees. The picture started out as just plain gray lines penciled in, but she soon added the magnificent colors visible. At this height, it seemed as if every color was suddenly more vibrant. The sky was a bright, clear blue and the trees a Christmas green. The building seemed unnatural throwing in such a dull tan but it all seemed to blend together as Cass smoothed out some of the lines. Instead of keeping its distinct edges and recognizably, the picture was steadily morphing into something surreal. She blended the tops of the tress on the right into the sky. An edge of the manor was blurred into the trees. Writing filled the windows and clouds. Simple words, such as her favorite quotes by her friends. These all contributed to make everything seem softer, more connected, more believable.

"Cass!" The voice yelling below startled her so much she almost fell out of the tree. She peaked through the branches to see Dick walking down below.

"I'm up here!" His head snapped up to look at her and relief showed on his face. Dick didn't seem to hesitate in climbing up the tree next to her. Only once he was eye level with her did he bother to say anything.

"There you are! Alfred and Bruce were a little worried!"

"Why were they worried?"

"Because we came home and you were nowhere in the manor! I just barely stopped Bruce from organizing the League to search for you! I figured you had just grown bored in the manor and came out into the woods. I do the same thing." Cass processed this information.

"How long have you been out here?" Dick asked.

"Um… I'm not entirely sure. What time is it now?"

"It's close to four o'clock."

"Huh. I would have been out here since just before three." Dick raised an eyebrow.

"We should probably get you inside."

"That would probably be a good idea." Cass said with a grimace. She had been so wrapped up in her art that the cold temperature had worked its way to the back of her mind. Now she was feeling just how cold she was. Cass scuttled down the tree after Dick. When she was safely on the ground again Dick gave a mischievous grin.

"Race you to the manor!" He challenged before taking off. Less than a second later, Cass was chasing after him. She caught up pretty quick since she had longer legs, but man was Dick fast! As they dashed through the snow Dick somehow managed to pull a little ahead of her. It was because of this that he managed to make it through the back, kitchen door first – where he nearly ran into Bruce. Dick managed to stop just in time, but Cass wasn't so lucky. She slid into Dick and pushed him forwards into Bruce. The three of them landed in a large tangle of limbs as Bruce overbalanced. They wiggled around a bit, trying to untangle themselves. There was a bright flash and a click as Alfred somehow managed to snap a picture. Bruce gave the man a playful glare.

"You could help you know." He said. Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"I could, but I am more inclined to watch you struggle." Alfred turned and headed out the door, camera in hand. The trio finally managed to get untangled a minute later. Cass quickly put some distance between Bruce and Dick and tried to catch her breath. She hadn't been much help with the untangling as she was more busy trying to minimize any accidental skin contact and the repercussions for said contact. Thankfully she had managed to keep focus enough that no one got hurt, but Cass had been at her tolerance for physical contact hours ago. Bruce gave a little huff and glanced at her.

"Where were you?" Cass shrugged.

"I got bored here in the manor so I went into the woods. I was sketching from on top of a tree." Bruce blinked.

"You were sketching… from on top of a tree?"

"Yes." Bruce threw his hands in the air.

"Why should I even be surprised anymore?! Next time, leave a note, okay?"

"Of course." Bruce left without another word.

"Can I see your sketch?" Dick asked. Cass was about to say no when she saw the puppy dog eyes. They were big, bright, vivid blue and projected the very core of innocence. She quickly looked away.

"Oh, don't give me those!" She glanced back at him and scowled when she saw that he persisted. A heavy sigh tore through her and she held the sketchbook out.

"Fine." Dick grabbed it eagerly and plopped down on one of the kitchen stools.

"Thank you!" Cass rolled her eyes and watched him quickly flip to the most recent page. He stared at the piece for several seconds.

"It's kind of based off of surrealism since that's what everything was like up there." Dick glanced up at her and back down to the book in his hands, his mouth gaping like a fish.

"You did _this_ in an hour?" He questioned.

"Um… Yes. It's not completely finished yet. I have some smaller things I want to add, mainly shading and such."

"This is crazy." He handed the sketchbook back to Cass.

"Hey, if you ever decide that the hero business isn't working out and you don't want to work for the other side either, you could have a great career as an artist."

"Thanks Dick. By the way, I don't think I ever apologized for this morning." Dick waved her apology off.

"Relax and be more chalant! I told you it was fine and that I should have known better! Let it go!" Cass didn't meet his eyes for a moment, but when she looked up again they were filled with mischief.

"Let it go! Let it go!" She sang while doing the Frozen motions with her hands. Dick groaned and clapped his hands over his ears.

"La, la, la, la! I can't hear you! La, la, la, la, la!" He continued to hum as her ran through the door. Cass just chuckled and ran after him. Every time Dick had thought she had stopped and he pulled his hands from his ears Cass would start up again. They ran through the manor until Dick finally made his way down to the cave and grabbed ear plugs. He shoved them into his ears and gave Cass a triumphant smirk. She just rolled her eyes and walked away. Dick kept the ear plugs in as he trailed back into the manor. He found Cass setting up a movie in the living room and grabbed a book to read before plopping in the arm chair next to the couch. He glanced up curiously to see what it was and was highly amused when Big Hero 6 was displayed on the screen. He glanced back down at his book and then back up to the TV.

 _Well… My homework is done and this book is less then interesting._ Dick snapped the book shut with a thud and tossed it back on the table. He removed the ear plugs and relaxed into the chair to watch the movie with Cass.

They were just reaching the part where Hiro displayed his microbots at the science convention when Bruce walked in. He was just going to pass through and head up to his office to do some paperwork, but the sight of the movie stopped him. It was one he hadn't been able to see yet and Bruce ended up sprawled on a corner cushion of the couch. Once Cass realized that Bruce hadn't seen the movie yet she insisted that they start from the beginning. Just as she started it back up, Alfred walked in with several bowls of popcorn. He handed them out with a firm warning not to ruin their appetite and sat in the other armchair to watch the movie with them. When the movie was done Dick cast a subtle glance at Cass and was surprised to see tears in her eyes. Apparently the girl had a soft spot for marshmallow health care robots. The family moved towards the living room where Alfred served dinner. The Bats ate quickly before heading down to the cave to prepare for patrol.

"Here." Batman tossed Cass her Ghost gear.

"I'm going with you?"

"What did you expect? I told you we would start your community service today. Halloween in Gotham is as good a time as any to start." Robin cackled from his perch _on_ the Batmobile.

"Plus sometimes the officers will give us candy." If patrol wasn't required already, Cass would have guaranteed her participation at that statement. What could she say? Cass had a weakness for food of any kind! She quickly suited up in her Ghost gear slipping into the persona easily. Though she remembered last minute to tone it back a little. None of the Bats killed, and she wouldn't redeem herself by killing more. Ghost toyed with the idea of a new name and costume for a new personality. She made a mental note to talk with Roy about it. He would have some ideas for her. Batman headed towards the Batmobile.

"So… Can I drive?" G questioned. The Bat gave a little smirk.

"Not on your life."

 **~~LineBreak~~**

 **Whoop! Chapter 10 is up!**

 **winterandsnow: I'm so so glad you liked it! :)**

 **NerdySkittlez: Yeah, no problem!**

 **Preview:**

 _"Please tell me there's candy involved this time." Robin grinned at her._

 _"Relax G! We've got plenty of time to get your sugar fix taken care of."_

 _"My coffee fix taken care of would be nice too."_


	11. Chapter 11

_Previously:_

 _"So… Can I drive?" G questioned. The Bat gave a little smirk._

 _"Not on your life."_

Her shoulders slumped as she climbed in the backseat next to Robin. Her back felt empty without her usual katanas there. Batman had not given them back with her uniform; thankfully her knives and extra weapons were all still hidden in her uniform and in her utility belt. She leaned forwards.

"How exactly do you expect me to do anything without my main weapon?" Robin pulled out a metal bo staff from seemingly nowhere and handed it to her.

"You can use this." Robin gestured to the center and started explaining some of the controls.

"It senses your hand movements. If you slide your hand along the center in an upwards motion then tasers come out. If you slide you hand in a downwards motion then they retract. Once the tasers are retracted if you take both hands and pull them together then the staff collapses in on its self." Robin reached over and demonstrated the collapsing.

"If you do the opposite then it opens again." Ghost nodded.

"Impressive, not my katanas but it will work. Am I correct in assuming that all throws with my knives are to be nonlethal?"

"What do you think?" Batman glanced at her in the rearview mirror. She ignored the question. G had known that would be the case all along. The Bat continued to lay out the game plan for the night.

"I'll patrol the south sector and work my way counterclockwise, you and Robin can patrol the north and work your way clockwise around the city. I want contact every hour via comms. Got it?"

"Sir yes sir!" Robin gave the Bat a mock salute before reaching into his belt for something. He pulled out a small, simple, black case that opened with a click. He pulled out the skin colored object and handed to Ghost.

"Here's your comm, you know how these work right?" Ghost gave him a glare.

"Yes, Robin I know of a comm works. I did have a partner before all this you know." She guessed that the Bird was rolling his eyes behind the domino mask. Ghost shoved the comm in her ear and turned back to the window. It was minutes later when the Batmobile pulled up at the edge of the city. Batman parked it in a deserted alleyway and the trio climbed out. The Bats quickly grappled onto the roof of the building next to them while G was stuck climbing up the fire escape.

"I thought you had some form of flight." The Bat said.

"Well you thought wrong."

"You mean you've been doing you jobs on foot?" Robin jumped in.

"Yes. I'm pretty good at parkour and my boots have special soles, though it made tailing you a pain." She directed the last part of that sentence towards Batman. The Dark Knight pulled an extra grappling gun from his belt and tossed it to her.

"Try not to fall." Before Ghost could make some sarcastic reply the Bat had disappeared into the night. She turned to Robin and jerked a thumb in the Bats general direction.

"Does he always do that?"

"What disappear into the shadows with a very cryptic be careful in Bat lingo?" G gave him a flat stare and Robin shrugged.

"Yeah, he always does that. You ready to go?" G shook her head and pulled out the grapple gun the Bat had just tossed her. She gave it a quick once over and tested its weight in her hand before nodding.

"Let's do this. Just remember you promised me candy Boy Wonder." Robin cackled as he shot off.

"Of course!" Ghost shot off after him.

 **LineBreak**

They were just reaching the police station roof three hours later. In those three hours they had stopped fourteen muggings, an attempted rape, and one kidnapping. True to their word, the pair checked in with the big, bad Bat every hour; although G's check-ins were less then pleasant and she still hadn't gotten her candy.

"Please tell me there's candy involved this time." Robin grinned at her.

"Relax G! We've got plenty of time to get your sugar fix taken care of."

"My coffee fix taken care of would be nice too."

"Well I can do that." Commissioner Gordon had just come up onto the roof. The Commissioner turned towards his companion.

"Go back to the break room and grab a cup of coffee for the lady here, Phil. How do you want it?"

"Black."

"Figures," the man muttered. "A black coffee then Phil." The man scurried off to complete the task while the Commissioner turned back towards them.

"What can we do for you Commish? It's been a pretty slow night." Ghost gave Robin a disbelieving look.

"This is a slow night?" Robin's smirk was answer enough and G groaned. Commissioner Gordon gave the girl a curious look and held out a hand.

"I don't believe we met. I'm Commissioner Gordon."

"No offence Commissioner, but I don't do physical contact unless I'm beating people up." Robin smiled and jumped in.

"Don't mind her she's still a little rough around the edges. Commissioner I'd like you to meet Ghost! She's pulling community service by becoming the newest member of the Batfamily!" The man's eyebrows rose.

"Community service?" G threw her hands in the air.

"Why is that the first question everyone asks?" Phil burst back onto the roof seconds after her outburst. In his hands he held a steaming cup of coffee.

Glorious, glorious coffee.

Ghost reached out and took the cup from him with a sigh. It was the worst cup of coffee she had ever had, but coffee was coffee and beggars couldn't be choosers. She saw Robin watching her cautiously and she gave him a reassuring look. She wasn't stupid enough to leave her DNA with the police. Seeming to understand her look, Robin turned back to the Commissioner.

"Seriously though, is there anything we could do?"

"No not really." He held several folded pieces of paper out to Robin.

"Give these to Batman for me though, it's the autopsy report he wanted." Robin took the papers and stashed them in his utility belt.

"Will do! We had better go Commish, there's more patrolling we need to get done." Robin didn't bother with Batman's disappearing act. The man wasn't there and that wasn't Robin's thing. So he and G just turned towards the edge of the roof and Ghost guzzled off the rest of her coffee.

"I can take that if you want." Gordon suggested. G looked back at him with a smirk.

"And hand you my DNA? Sorry Commissioner, I prefer to remain a Ghost." She crushed the cup and stuck it in her utility belt. She would dump it in a trash can when they were far enough away. Ghost pulled out her grappling gun and jumped off the building and into the night with Robin.

 **LineBreak**

It was three in the morning when the Bats finally met back at the Batmobile. Ghost was happily eating the pixie sticks she had gotten. Robin had finally caved and they stopped at a local grocery store to buy a whole pack after the fourth hour of patrol. He ate all the purple ones, G ate all the orange ones, and the blue ones were split between the two. They filled Batman in on their night and he seemed very pleased at how uneventful it was. He sped the pair home and Cass stripped of her gear as soon as she was in the locker room. She changed into her PJs, though this time she wore a T-shirt rather than a tank top. It wouldn't cover everything, but it'd be enough to give Dick and Bruce a safe place to touch her if they needed to wake her up. She yawned out her goodnights to Dick, Bruce, and Alfred before practically collapsing in bed. That night, Cass slept without any nightmares or dreams of any kind.

 **LineBreak**

It was the bouncing on her bed that woke her in the morning.

"Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" Cass just groaned in response and buried her head further into the pillow while trying to make sense of who was in her room. Bruce and Alfred were immediately eliminated, which left Dick. But this didn't sound like Dick. She could feel them moving around slightly. Suddenly the voice was in her ear.

"Come on Cass! Get up!" It sounded like… Oh. Cass was instantly awake as she realized just who was in her room. She snapped her head towards him.

"Roy?"

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty, we have a big day today!"

"Roy what are you doing in my room?"

"Waking you up! It's already eleven o'clock Cass and I have plans!" She rolled her eyes and shoved her head back into the pillow.

"What plans?" Her words came out muffled by the pillow but clear enough that Roy could still understand them.

"My surprise plans for our surprise date." Cass lifted her head just enough to glare at him.

"I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"Sleeping." This time it was Roy who rolled his eyes.

"I figured that you're normally a grouchy person in the mornings, that's why I brought you this." He pulled a cup off of the nightstand. Her nose twitched as the smell registered in her brain. Cass eagerly reached out a hand to grab the precious drink from him but he pulled it away last second.

"Ah, ah, ah!" He tsked. "You have to get up and standing before I give you this." Cass growled but stood up none the less. She muttered several unflattering things about Roy and his mother under her breath while doing so and only continued to do this as she saw his smile. As promised he handed her the coffee and she pulled it close to her chest. He did a quick once over of the girl.

"You should go get changed. Something warm would be preferred." Cass continued her grumbling but headed to her closet – still clutching the coffee like a lifeline. Roy gave a laugh once she had disappeared completely. He was very glad that he had thought to bring coffee. Five minutes late Cass emerged from her closet with an empty cup and looking much better. Without a word she handed Roy the cup and brushed past him to get to her bathroom. It took another fifteen before she emerged. Roy took the moment to look at her. She wore simple gray skinny jeans with her usual combat boots, her top was a sweater that was gray as well, granted it was a darker shade. Roy wasn't entirely sure what she had done in the bathroom, but was disappointed to see the ice blue eyes that stared back at him. She pulled on her trusty leather jacket and a bright, eye-catching, red wool hat. She stuffed her leather gloves into her purse.

"Okay. Let's go do whatever you have planned for our mystery date." They stopped by the kitchen first so that she could grab a granola bar before they slipped down to the cave. Roy quickly entered a destination in the Zeta Tubes before grabbing her hand and pulling her through. They ended up in a city that was most defiantly not Gotham. The alley was much cleaner than any in Gotham and the buildings that surrounded them seemed in better repair. Roy held his hands up.

"Welcome to Star City!"

"What are we doing here?" Roy smiled and grabbed her hand again.

"You'll see!" He tugged her after him and she laughed.

"Roy! I don't like surprises!"

"Well too bad!" After several minutes of Roy pulling her along and him apologizing to the people they bumped into they finally stopped… at a street corner.

"Roy I really hope there's more to this." The grin that Roy had been wearing the whole time got bigger.

"You think I would really have a date with you on a street corner? Of course there's more! I just don't want you figuring out what it is until we're there." He pulled out a blindfold from his pocket. Cass suddenly felt a little nauseous and held her hands up.

"No." He gave her a confused look.

"Why not?" She swallowed.

"Roy, just please. I'll close my eyes if you want, but no blindfolds." She compromised. Frankly she didn't like the idea of her closing her eyes either, but she didn't want to spoil Roy's surprise and this way she could open her eyes if she needed to. Seeing that she was serious about this, Roy didn't push the blindfold issue and accepted her just closing her eyes.

"You better keep them closed." He warned in a playful tone. She gave him a nervous smile.

"I will, I promise." And she did. Cass kept her eyes closed the rest of the way to their mystery destination. She nearly opened them several times and her nerves where incredibly sensitive when they finally made it, but she realized that she needed to trust Roy and so she followed his lead blindly. He didn't let her open her eyes until they were inside where ever they were going. When she did, Cass was surprised to see an ice skating rink. Her mouth opened in shock and she glanced at Roy. Seeing his self satisfied smirk, she quickly smacked the back of her hand into his shoulder. He gave a mock wince and rubbed the spot.

"Ow, Cass! What was that for?"

"Because your little stunt practically shot my nerves." She paused a moment before continuing.

"But this is nice, thank you." Cass gave him a little peck on the lips much to Roy's pleasure.

"Okay! First, shoes. I heard that girls like those." Cass rolled her eyes.

"As it so happens, I do like shoes." She trailed after Roy as they headed to the kiosk and rented two pairs. They quickly laced their skates up, though Cass had quite a bit of trouble getting onto the ice. And more when she actually reached it. Roy looped her arm through his as he held her up. He taught her the basics as they skated close to the walls around the rink, laughing and catching her every time she almost fell. Cass stuck her tongue out at him and Roy just laughed harder. Soon they were both practically doubled over in laughter.

"Very mature." He commented.

"If you want mature then you're with the wrong girl. I still watch Disney movies and laugh at fart jokes." Roy suddenly switched from their looped arms to holding one above her head and twirling her. She gave a little yelp of surprise and slapped Roy with the back of her hand again.

"Ow! I feel like this is going to become a habit!" Cass huffed.

"Maybe it will if you keep doing stupid stuff like that!"

"Will the kisses become a part of the habit as well?" He winked.

"What is it with you and kisses?" Roy shrugged and they continued to loop around the rink.

"You're a good kisser." She gave him a deadpan look.

"We've only had three kisses and only one of them lasted longer than a second. Plus during that one kiss it took me a couple of seconds to kiss back and I pushed you away and vanished to have a panic attack in private! You cannot tell me that I'm a good kisser after all that." Rather than latch onto the humor in her voice like Cass thought he would, Roy latched onto the panic attack part.

"You had a panic attack after our kiss?" Cass's shoulders slumped and she refused to look at him.

"The first kiss I had was when my powers manifested; I gave the boy a heart attack. You startled me so much that I almost lost control and did the same to you." Roy squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry." She smiled up at him.

"Don't be." Cass took the opportunity to change the subject.

"I'm thinking that I need a new name?" Roy looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What's wrong with Cass?"

"No a new… other name."

"Ah." Roy lowered his voice a bit, even though the rink was loud enough that no one would hear them.

"You should stick with the bat or bird theme."

"You think?"

"Yeah. The question is just which one to pick."

"Bird. There aren't a whole lot of variations on bat." Roy chuckled.

"Okay, bird it is." He tugged her towards the rink entrance.

"Come on, let's go grab lunch and we can discuss this more then." They worked their way back outside into the snow and started walking down the street.

"So where are we eating?" She asked and Roy responded with a shrug.

"I have no clue. You have any ideas?"

"Hmm… There's IHOP."

"Breakfast for lunch?" It was Cass's turn to shrug.

"I slept through breakfast, so sue me."

"Okay, IHOP it is." The pair never made it to the local IHOP. Halfway there a black van screeched up beside them. Before either of them could react masked men were grabbing them and shoving rags over their faces. Cass held her breath and tried to struggle as they were pulled into the van, but she couldn't do anything that would give her identity away. Eventually she had to breathe and her world went dark.

Her head felt like it was full of cotton when she woke up. A quiet groan escaped her lips as she tried to take in the current situation. She could feel Duct Tape wrapped around her arms and legs, pinning them to the chair she was on. The chair was wooden so if she really wanted to, Cass was sure that she could get out. After all, wooden chairs broke easily. She could hear voices a distance away. They were loud and rowdy with laughter. Cass suspected that they were drunk.

"Cass?" The question was whispered from behind her. She decided that it was high time to open her eyes. She realized that she was currently in a cellar. While the room was dark, she could make out the beginnings of a domed ceiling, and bare shelves on the walls.

"Cass?" This time the question was a little louder and defiantly seemed more panicked. She felt her heart settle a bit when she placed the voice as Roy.

"I'm here. I'm awake." She could hear his relieved sigh from behind her.

"You can't try to get out."

"I know I'm not that stupid."

"Just figured I'd remind you." She scoffed.

"How long have we been here?"

"As far as I could guess at least an hour."

"Alfred should notice that we're gone soon." Roy was about to reply when the cellar door suddenly slammed open. Cass closed her eyes against the bright light that spilled down. The guy who came down was big, but it was more fat than muscle. Cass wished she could see the guy's face so she could ID him later, but he was wearing the same type of ski mask that the ones who grabbed the pair had been wearing. She wondered if that was a good thing. It meant there was every chance that the goons had no intention of killing the pair, but Cass was all too aware that there were worse things than death. Covering his face would bring an essence of psychological torture to the mix. She mentally shook those thoughts away. There was no reason for goon one here to torture. He had no idea who she and Roy were. In fact, Cass was willing to bet that the only reason she was there at all was because she was with Roy at the moment. He pulled out a camera and a laptop from somewhere. Goon one quickly set up the camera so that it had a clear view of both her and Roy. It was wired to the laptop and the guy typed something in. Suddenly the camera was recording and the man backed out while staying out of the camera's shot.

"What the h*** was that about?" Cass questioned.

"It was probably set up to send a live feed to another computer. Specifically Ollie's computer."

"Who's Ollie?"

"My guardian. It's probably a ransom demand, I am after all the ward of a genius, billionaire."

"Right…" Cass drew out the vowel and sighed.

"I'm sorry for getting you into this."

"Roy, I've been in much worse than kidnapped by amateurs that I could escape easily." A laugh was heard behind her.

"I guess you have. I'm still sorry that our date was ruined."

"Please, this is the most fun I've had on a date in years!" She could practically see the eyebrow Roy was raising at that moment.

"And how many dates have you been on?" His mischievous tone cut through the air and Cass gave a fake laugh.

"Ah, you're so funny. I think a better question would be how many dates you've been on in the past year alone. And yes, one night stands count." Roy coughed.

"I'm pretty sure if I answer that I'll be in big trouble."

"Mmhmm… You bet you will. Still, I meant what I said about the ice skating. It was all really nice and fun. So just to clarify – does Ollie pay the ransom or does he contact our friends?"

"A little of both actually. He goes to the drop-offs and then calls our friends."

"Slow, but effective."

"I guess you'll just have to sit here and bear with me."

"Whatever are we going to do in the mean time, Harper?"

"Ouch, I've been demoted to the last name! I thought you said the date was nice!" This time Cass laughed.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I usually sleep through these things."

"Sleep?!"

"Yeah, sleep. Think of it this way, you can make up for the sleep you lost this morning." Cass grumbled under her breath.

"I take it back, the date was horrible."

"What, a little sarcasm and you…" The cellar door slammed open again and Roy immediately shut up.

"They're both still here boss!" Goon one hollered back up the stairs. Cass could just barely make out a New Jersey accent. Cass called out as he turned to leave.

"What do you mean we're both still here? Where else would we be?" Goonie seemed hesitant to answer.

"Come on, what's going on that we would be gone?" Roy asked.

"All the kids eighteen an' under are missin'."

"Missing?!" Cass questioned with a little panic.

"Yup, gone without a trace. Your ransom's gonna take a little longer to get here. I doubt that Queen's gonna be rushing over with this world crisis." Before either of them could ask any more questions Goonie had disappeared back upstairs.

"Children gone?" Cass mumbled.

Why does this sound familiar? Was it related to a job I pulled?

"Dick."

"What?" Cass asked Roy.

"Dick's under eighteen. So is everyone on the team." She gasped.

"So Mis and Trav…" the sentence trailed off. Setting her mouth in a firm line Cass started rocking slightly side to side in her chair. Hearing the noise, Roy became concerned.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to find my friends." She rocked the chair harder.

"No, Cass you can't!"

"Why not?" Roy lowered his voice.

"Because that will raise suspicions! You have to stay here as a hostage, the League will find everyone and bring them back, trust me!" The rocking stopped.

"I don't play damsel in distress very well Roy." He groaned.

"I know, I know that's not you! But you have to convince people it is so that they don't make any connection between you and… other you!" Her shoulders slumped, but she knew that Roy was right. So for now she would play damsel in distress and trust the League to find her friends, but she stayed ready to break out if she felt that things had gotten worse. It seemed to be hours before she started hearing crashes and yelling upstairs. They startled her a bit, but Roy seemed perfectly calm about the whole thing.

"That'd be the Calvary." There were more crashes and some gunfire before it suddenly stopped. The door slammed open one last time as Green Arrow marched his way down the stairs.

"Hey, you guys okay?" Roy suddenly seemed to switch to aggressive mode.

"Perfect, thanks for taking so long." Robin Hood just gave a hands up shrug and went to untie her. Out of instinct she flinched slightly when his hands got a little too close to her skin. As if sensing her distress, Roy set about calming her.

"Relax Cass, he's wearing gloves. Just don't touch her skin, I won't be held responsible if she decides to stop your heart." He aimed the last part of his statement towards Green Arrow. She could see the man's confused look even with the domino mask. Cass took several deep breaths as he moved closer again. It had been another rough day. She dimly realized that she worried far too much, but Cass had always been a worrier; it had just gotten worse over the years. The moment Green Arrow had finished untying her she immediately moved away and grabbed her coat from the corner. She checked the pockets as Roy was being untied and was pleased to find her gloves. They were quickly worked onto her hands and her eyes snapped towards the entrance of the cellar when another person came down. She remained tense as Black Canary made her appearance.

"Good to see everyone's okay." Roy nodded and worked his way over to Cass. Seeing her tension he quietly took her hand in his. Instead of tensing more at the contact though, Cass seemed to relax into it. He noticed GA's and Canary's curious looks.

"Right, let's get you both back to the penthouse and we can talk more there." Canary seemed relatively calm about everything but GA still seemed a little shocked.

"Yeah, the penthouse sounds good. We'll meet you there." Roy pulled Cass behind him as they made a speedy departure and left GA and Canary to clean up.

"Why are we going to the penthouse?" Cass questioned him the moment they were out of the house and back on the street.

"Because Canary is… Canary and she will hunt us down. Plus she might have an idea about what's going on with the missing children." Cass nodded. Roy looked around and seemed to recognize what part of the city they were in. He continued to tug her in another direction.

"Come on, this way. The penthouse isn't far from here." Roy wasn't kidding when he said that the penthouse wasn't far. They had probably only walk for five minutes before ducking into a private elevator and making their way to the top floor.

"So, I get to meet the folks. This seems to be moving pretty quickly." Roy winced.

"We're only going to be here long enough for Dinah to realize that I'm fine. Then we're leaving." Cass nodded.

"Okay, not that I don't mind leaving quickly but I thought you would be a little more enthusiastic about introducing me. Granted, that was not the way I wanted to meet them." Roy winced again.

"Ollie and I aren't exactly on best terms right now." Cass gave him a glance before rolling her eyes.

"Okay, we're gonna talk about that later." The elevator dings and the doors opened.

"Why?" If Cass didn't know any better she would say that Roy was whining.

"Because I'm your nosy girlfriend who wants to see you happy."

"I am happy."

"You aren't now."

"Well no because we just got kidnapped from our date, our friends are missing, and now I have to spend an unspecified amount of time with my legal guardian and his girlfriend." Cass smiled as if Roy had just proved her point.

"Exactly, and I can only fix one of those things." Roy groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Great." The elevator dinged again and Green Arrow and Black Canary walked out, this time as Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance.

"Roy, I'm glad you came. I was worried that you would back out." Dinah walked forwards and gave the teen a hug before turning to Cass and holding out a hand.

"I'm Dinah Lance – you can just call me Dinah, it's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry you got kidnapped along with Roy. Thankfully Green Arrow and Black Canary were patrolling or I might not have met you." Cass raised an eyebrow.

"Um… Dinah, I already know who you and Mr. Queen are on the other side of the mask but it's nice to meet you." She hesitantly reached out and shook Dinah's hand, feeling like this was one time she couldn't turn a handshake down. Two shocked faces stared back at her and Roy cleared his throat.

"This is Cass, my girlfriend. She's also living with Dick and joining the team." Suddenly all confusion and shock was wiped away from Dinah's face.

"Of course! I was told that you would be joining!" Oliver stepped in then.

"Wait, wait, wait a minute! You're telling me that you're joining the team? How come I didn't know about this?" Dinah gave him an exasperated glance.

"I told you the team was getting a new member, Ollie."

"You did?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Dinah turned back to Roy.

"You're both staying for dinner." Roy went to protest but Cass jumped in before he could.

"That sounds lovely. I would just have to call home." Cass paused as she considered her next question.

"You wouldn't happen to know what was going on with the missing kids would you?"

"The League handled it. I'm not entirely sure what it involved but everyone is back safe and sound." Cass sighed.

"That's a relief. Now, I really should call home before Alfred worries more."

"There's a landline right down the hallway and through the third door on your left." Roy gestured to the hallway.

"Thanks." Cass headed off without another word. Ollie rubbed the back of his neck as Cass left.

"She's uh interesting." Roy rolled his eyes.

"Yes she is. Why are we staying for dinner?" Dinah stepped forwards.

"Because we haven't had a good family dinner in ages and this will give us a chance to meet your new girlfriend who I'm also going to be training in the future." Roy's shoulders slumped at Dinah's words.

"So Dick's alright, Alfred was busy so he answered the phone." Cass walked back into the living room.

"Right." Ollie clapped his hands together. "Who's up for Chinese takeout?" Dinah smiled.

"That sounds good to me, I'll order." She pulled out a cell phone.

"Why can't I order?"

"Because the last time you ordered all the food was extremely spicy." Roy and Cass watched the two bicker like a tennis match.

"I thought you liked spice!" Dinah chuckled.

"Not to that degree. Cass do you have any idea what you'd like?"

"Just some orange chicken and chow mein please."

"Great." Dinah left to order the food. Oliver held out a hand with a strained smile.

"I don't think I've introduced myself yet. Oliver Queen, my friends just call me Ollie though." Cass gave a strained smile in return and gently shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you Oliver." The man raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I said that my friends call me Ollie, that extends to family partners you know."

"I don't think I know you well enough to consider you a friend Oliver."

"Fair enough." There was a brief silence as everyone took a seat on the various couches around the room.

"So… What do you like to do as a hobby Cass?" Oliver started.

"Art and mechanics."

"Mechanics? Any specific field of mechanics?" Cass gave him a smile that practically screamed secrets and Roy held back a chuckle.

"I dabble in all of it, but I have a particular love for cars."

"Cars are nice, I prefer to own them rather than work on them though."

"Oh, I own plenty of them trust me. I just work on them more than I drive them." Oliver seemed slightly surprised. He changed the subject completely out of nowhere.

"What do you think about chili?" Roy groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. Cass looked between the two men confused.

"Do you mean the country?"

"No, he means the food."

"I like chili, why?"

"Because I make the best chili you'll ever taste." Dinah walked back in and took a seat besides Oliver.

"Don't let him fool you," she said, "this guy makes chili so spicy that even the Flash won't eat it."

"Batman's the only person we've found who can eat more than a bite and he only eats a couple. It's even brought tears to Superman's eyes." Roy jumped in. Cass's eyes widened.

"Now I want to try it." Oliver laughed and gestured to her.

"I knew I liked this girl! Roy you sure picked a keeper; not only does she like cars but she's willing to try my chili!" Dinah and Roy shared a look and the woman decided to cut in before things could get out of hand.

"So Cass, are you looking forwards to joining the team?"

"Sort of, my joining was mandatory and I'm slightly nervous about the whole thing." Dinah nodded like she had expected this.

"Wait, why would your joining be mandatory?" Oliver seemed very confused as he questioned the girl.

"Community service." Both she and Roy answered the man at the same time.

"How is joining the team community service?" Cass bit her lip and said nothing. Thankfully she was saved from answering as the doorbell rang. Oliver jumped up.

"Oh, foods here!" He practically ran to the door. Dinah just rolled her eyes.

"I swear sometimes I think that Oliver could out eat the Flash." Roy full out laughed at that.

"Why do you think they're such good friends?" Oliver chose this moment to come back into the living room holding two bags between his hands. He tossed chopsticks to everyone and grabbed a carton.

"Dig in everyone!" Everyone quickly obliged. Cass was ravenous. She hadn't eaten anything since her granola bars that morning. She scooped up a carton of chow mein and nailed another of orange chicken. She efficiently broke her chopsticks apart and began eating. Dinner was mostly silent except for a few pieces of conversation between Dinah and Roy. Everyone was more focused on eating than they were on conversation. The cartons were quickly finished with Oliver eating the most. Roy was a close second, but had been beaten by half a carton. There were still plenty of leftovers which Dinah insisted that Roy take. She tried to get Cass to take some soon but the girl refused claiming that Alfred would kill her if she brought home leftover takeout. After some quick goodbyes Roy practically pushed her out of the penthouse and onto the elevator. She gave him a sleepy smile.

"Dinah's nice."

"Yeah, she is. She's the only reason that I'm still sane after living with Ollie for so long." Cass gave a chuckle.

"You should probably take me home now." Roy nodded.

"Yeah, Bruce will kill me if I keep you out any later."

"Don't be silly Bruce wouldn't kill you. He might seriously maim you for the rest of your life but he has this thing about no killing."

"This is true. In that case I think I'd rather die."

"I can arrange that." Roy scowled.

"No thanks. I think I'll avoid the premature death." Cass shrugged as they made their way to a Zeta Tube.

"Suit yourself." They slipped into a photo booth and teleported to the Batcave. The dark figure that loomed over the computer turned to face them as they arrived.

"You're late." Roy gulped at the intimidating Bat glare. It didn't seem to faze Cass though. The girl just shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"It was completely by accident, trust me. First we were on a date, then we got kidnapped, then Dinah insisted that we stay for dinner."

"Alfred isn't happy." This was enough to make Cass pale slightly.

"I called from the penthouse."

"Alfred wasn't the one who answered it." Cass threw her hands up and Roy backed away slowly.

"I can't control that!" Neither paid Roy any attention as he crept back towards the Zeta.

"I'm just going to go now." Alfred chose this moment to make his appearance.

"Miss Cass!" She winced and turned towards the angry voice.

"Alfred, I can explain."

"Please do Miss Cass!"

"See as I was just explain to Bruce I was on a date with Roy and then we got kidnapped for ransom and them Green Arrow and Black Canary came and 'rescued' us and Dinah made us stay for dinner which took longer than I thought it would but I called and Dick answered the phone I didn't know you would be mad!" The run on sentence was spoken almost at super speed with little breaths in between. Alfred had stood there in silence with an impassive look on his face before giving her a slight nod.

"I apologize Miss Cass. Though I do request that next time you get kidnapped you call until you get in touch with myself. Are you injured?" Cass gave a great sigh of relief.

"No just really tired."

"Might I suggest some sleep then?" Cass shook her head.

"Actually first I'd like to know what that who debacle was about with missing kids." She turned towards Bruce expectantly. (He had pulled the cowl down as she explained things to Alfred.)

"A sorcerer known as Klarion recruited several others and split Earth into two dimensions. One contained only people over eighteen and one contained only people under eighteen. The team and a few members of the League launched simultaneous attacks – eventually defeating Klarion and returning the dimensions together."

"Is everyone okay?"

"Most everyone, there was an incident involving Dr. Fate but nothing can be done about that now."

"Okay." She moved towards the cave entrance.

"Cass." Bruce's voice stopped her.

"You will be meeting the team in several days. Maybe sooner if a mission comes up before then." Cass nodded and continued to the entrance. She made her way through the manor and checked for Dick. She found him on his laptop in his room. Cass knocked lightly on the doorframe.

"Hacking the Pentagon?" Dick glanced up at her.

"You know it isn't even a challenge anymore." Her eyes widened and she moved to his side. From what little she knew about programming she could see that he was, in fact, hacking the Pentagon. She whistled.

"I have got to get you and Travis in a room together. You two would have a blast and most likely blow something up while delving into government secrets." Cass paused.

"Actually, I think I'll keep you and Trav far, far away from each other." Robin gave her a half smile. She decided not to push quite yet about what was bothering him and just watched him work.

"How'd your date with Roy go?"

"Heh, not as well as he hoped."

"Was the ice skating rink a bust?"

"Oh no, the ice skating was really nice. It was the kidnapping on our way to lunch that spoiled everything. At least in his eyes."

"You don't think it spoiled the date?" Cass smirked.

"Nah, it made everything more exciting. Plus I got to meet Oliver and Dinah because of it." Robin snorted.

"Of course you would think getting kidnapped on a date was exciting. How'd that meeting go?"

"Hmm… It went alright I suppose. Dinah was friendly right away and once I told Oliver that I like cars and wanted to try his chili he warmed up pretty quick." Robin gave her a wide eyed look.

"You told him you want to try his chili?! Are you suicidal?"

Well actually, I haven't been suicidal for close to two years. She didn't say this out loud though, instead she choose the lighter route.

"No, just very curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"So they tell me. I'm not dead yet though."

"Just promise me that I can be present when you try it. Or at the very least, video tape it for me."

"Done." She gave him a high five.

"So I heard you had an adventure of your own today." Dick gave her a flat look.

"Smooth." He joked. She nudged him with her elbow.

"I'm serious! Bruce said something about an incident with Dr. Fate; I want to know if that's what's bugging you."

"Y-yeah, it is." She waited silently.

"Zatanna put on the Helmet of Fate in order to defeat Klarion. Fate wouldn't release her afterwards. To save his daughter's life, Zatara made a deal with Fate. Fate would give up his daughter and take him instead. He took the deal and Zatanna lost a father today." Cass sighed.

"Why are you taking this so hard?" Dick blushed and looked back at his computer screen. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the teen before gasping.

"You like her!"

"W-what, no!"

"Yes, yes you do! Ah, you have your first crush!"

"It's not my first." Dick mumbled. Cass eyes glinted.

"Not your first, huh? Who was your first?" She poked him in the ribs. Dick jumped away.

"None of your business!" Cass poked him again and Dick jumped and pushed her hand away.

"Don't!" She suddenly realized what was going on. Dick was ticklish. Cass lunged forwards and started tickling him.

"Hey… Hahaha… Stop!" Between his laughter and wheezing for breathe Dick's sentence came out broken and only half the volume he meant it to be. Cass laughed with him and continued to tickle him mercilessly. She paused for a second to make sure that Dick could breathe. He took that moment to grab his pillow and whack her off of him. She gave a little screech as she tumbled off the bed. She popped her head back up and Dick slammed his pillow into in. Cass fell back coughing feathers out of her mouth.

"So that's how you want to play it Bird Brain? Fine!" She managed to grab another one of Dick's pillows from the bed and started whacking back at him. Feathers exploded everywhere and Cass was very glad that she still had her gloves on. With all the excitement and adrenalin she was feeling, she was sure that she might accidently speed Dick's heart up a little too much if contact was made now. A throat was cleared from the door way. Both Cass and Dick froze as they saw Alfred standing there covered in feathers. They moved to hide the pillows behind their backs and pointed at one another.

"He started it!"

"She started it!" They simultaneously yelled. Alfred raised an eyebrow and picked one of the many feathers on his shoulders off.

"I do not care who started it only that you clean up after you're done." He glanced around the room.

"Carry on." The butler turned and left without looking back. Cass and Dick shared a look. Dick took the opportunity to leap forwards and smack her with his pillow. She growled and retaliated. The pillow fight lasted for close to ten more minutes before the pillows were completely flat and empty of feathers. They called it a draw and started cleaning up the best they could at the late hour; which mainly consisted of them moving all the feathers into one giant pile. It took all of Dick's self-control not to jump into it. Cass mumbled her goodnights and Dick fetched an extra pillow from the hallway closet and they both retired to their rooms for the night.

 **LineBreak**

 **We're almost done with this story! Can you believe it? Actually, I think there's only one more chapter. O.o Wow!**

 **Thank you everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed!**

 **NerdySkittlez: Unfortunately I don't delve into Cass's background much more in this story. Mainly because I couldn't find a good time to add it and I liked the mystery. I do, however, have plans for a "prequel" of sorts to delve into that a little deeper. This chapter has a little more action I think, and afterwards things seem to move pretty quickly. If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Important Author's Note at the bottom!**

The next couple of days passed quickly and in much the same manner. They would all have breakfast together and then Dick would disappear for school, Bruce would head to work, and Alfred would busy himself cooking and cleaning. Cass usually bundled up, grabbed a thermos of coffee and wandered out to the woods to draw. Roy called and Skyped for short periods of time during these days but he was halfway across the world chasing down a lead at the moment. A lead for what, Cass had no idea. Roy refused to tell her despite her wheedling. She eventually let it go, much to his thankfulness. After everyone returned to the manor and had dinner Cass, Bruce, and Dick would head down to the cave and go on patrol. Cass had come up with a different name; Raven seemed to fit her perfectly. She was just having trouble coming up with a design. So she continued as Ghost and didn't tell Bruce about her plans for a name change. (The little bird had found out when looking through her sketchbook and seeing her designs, though he promised not to tell Bruce.) Eventually though, it was time for her to meet the team. Dick had dragged her along to Kid Flash's birthday party. She had protested violently against it, claiming that Kid Flash didn't know her and wouldn't want her at his surprise birthday party. Dick had just snorted and informed that she was a girl, Kid wouldn't mind a bit. They arrived shortly before Kid was supposed to and Robin introduced Cass to the team. Unlike Dick, Cass had managed to convince Bruce that shades to keep her identity a secret weren't needed. They moved through the cave as the Zeta announced them and headed towards the commotion in the kitchen. Several teens were moving around decorating. A green skinned girl that Cass assumed was Miss Martian was hovering around a cake and putting the finishing touches with the help of a black haired girl. A black hair boy was watching static on the TV and a teen with gills and blonde hair sat reading a book. She had just turned to survey the rest of the room when Artemis burst out of nowhere and gave her a surprise hug.

"You're okay! And here!" Her face morphed into shock and suspicion.

"What _are_ you doing here?" Robin chuckled.

"Guys I'd like you to meet our new teammate! This is Ghost." Mis's jaw dropped and she gave Cass a curious look.

"Just call me G." Miss Martian flew over and grabbed her hand.

"It's so nice to meet you! Another girl on the team is always a great thing! I'm Miss Martian but you can call me M'gann or Megan!" Cass watched the girl as she practically vibrated with excitement. She managed to muster up a smile for the Martian.

"Nice to meet you too, M'gann." Everyone in the room watched her but no one else made any move to make introductions. Robin cleared his throat.

"Ghost that's Aqualad, Zatanna, Superboy, and you already know Artemis." Superboy gave her a grunt and Aqualad gave her a small nod with a request for her to call him Kaldur; Zatanna just gave her a weak smile and went back to the cake. Robin checked the time as Red Tornado and Flash walked in.

"Oh, Wally's going to be here any minute! Quick, hide!" The group scurried around and hid behind various objects in the kitchen. They heard the Zeta Tubes whir to life seconds later.

 _"Recognize: Kid Flash B03. Zeta Tube network now offline due to extreme atmospheric conditions."_

"Whoa. I just made it. Be a tragedy if I missed my own…" The group flipped on the lights and yelled,

"Surprise!" Cutting off Kid's sentence. He acted overly surprised.

"Whaaat! Oh, you guys! You shouldn't have." Robin scoffed.

"Right, not like you've been hinting for days or anything." They moved towards the living room table where the cake was placed and a party hat was slapped on Kid's head.

"We made two cakes!" M'gann said.

"Awesome! What will you guys eat?"

"We'll split the cupcake. Make a wish!" She joked.

"Way ahead of you." Cass raised an eyebrow from her place in the back. She had only been there a couple of seconds before but even she could see that Superboy and M'gann were a couple. And Cass was pretty sure that Wally was flirting with the girl. He blew out the candles and they all clapped. Cass watched as Kid began flirting with M'gann again. She was not looking forwards to when he noticed her. Judging by his behavior the guy flirted with any and everything.

"You know, if I tell you my wish it won't come true. But if you guess…" He trailed off suggestively. M'gann handed him a slice of cake and Artemis turned around. Cass watched with interest as the girl's eyes seemed to narrow.

"Nope, guess again." M'gann leaned forwards and gave him a peck on the forehead. Cass had to hold back a chuckle; it was so obvious that wasn't what the kid wanted.

"Happy Birthday." M'gann said. Artemis smirked and seemed slightly relieved. Cass decided that this was as good a time as any to jump in and introduce herself.

"I'm Ghost, nice to meet you Wally." The teen started as she came up behind him. He gave her what was probably supposed to be a flirty smile.

"That'd be me. Nice to meet you babe." Cass gave a tight smile in return.

"I'm also in a relationship, so if you don't want to be turned into a pincushion I suggest you lay back on the flirting." Wally rubbed the back of his neck.

"Eh, sorry."

"It's no problem." Cass moved forwards and sat next to Wally while grabbing a slice of cake. She watched as he practically shoveled food down his throat and raised an eyebrow. Alfred would kill him if he ever saw that. She noticed that Robin had made his way over to Zatanna and seemed to make a joke. She felt herself smile at the sight. They did make a cute couple. Artemis joined their little group with a mischievous look in her eyes. Cass narrowed her eyes. What was Artemis planning now? Her attention was brought back to Wally when M'gann came by to pick up the clean plate.

"You're getting warmer babe, but I can make you warmer still." Cass couldn't help the eye roll when she heard this statement. The blonde made her way over while M'gann turned and headed for Superboy. Cass watched in interest as Artemis leaned closer to Wally and whispered something in his ear. Cass almost felt bad as Wally's eyes widened and he turned to look at M'gann and Superboy. Seeing the girl feeding him cake Wally's shoulders slumped and his mouth gapped.

"Ah man!" There was a small beep and suddenly Batman's voice rang through the cave.

 _"Attention team. Suit up. Polar stealth mission briefing in five."_ The team scattered towards their rooms. Cass stood and watched for a moment before Robin ran back and grabbed her elbow to pull her along with him.

"You've got a room and a spare suit in it." He led her to a metal door and typed in a simple code. The door slid open with a quite whoosh.

"I'm right next door, and your room is soundproof." The little bird disappeared before she could say anything else. She stepped inside and made her way to the closet. There were several different suits hung up, but they all had the same style as her original costume. Lined up there was one original, one polar stealth suit, and one that looked more suited to underwater. She quickly changed into the white polar stealth suit. It was just like her normal costume with the exception of a fur lined hood and fur lined boots. Ghost suspected that the material of the suit was fit for colder weather despite its light weight and appearance. Inspecting herself in the mirror G wasn't sure what to think about the fact that her hair blended in perfectly with her suit. It was both unnerving and beautiful. She shook those thoughts out of her head and decided that she had stalled long enough. Ghost moved silently through the hallways and arrived in the main training/mission room quickly. Batman's face was present on a holographic screen. Seeing her arrival, they decided to get started.

"Where's Flash?" Kid asked.

"Flash and Red Tornado already have their assignments." The answer was stoic and not really an answer at all. Batman continued.

"A massive ice storm has paralyzed North America from coast to coast. Satellite imagery has detected five flying ice fortresses – source unknown – which seem to be responsible and must be stopped.

"But can't the watchtower blow them out of the sky or something?" Kid asked. Ghost was just about to ask what the watchtower was when Zatanna took the words right out of her mouth.

"What's a watchtower?"

"I'd like to know that too." G raised a finger. Batman gave a sigh in exasperation.

"The League's orbiting headquarters is not weaponized and with both Green Lanterns off world I need all hands on deck." Batman's face returned to a scowl that was even more displeased than usual. Ghost shook of the mentioning of a League base in headquarters, deciding that it wasn't important.

"Does that mean what I think it means? The League and the team fighting side by side?" Robin seemed very excited at this prospect.

"Whoa, really?!" Kid grinned and pumped his fists.

"Superboy, use the Supercycle to rendezvous with the Batplane at ice fortress one. You'll drop off You'll drop off Robin, Ghost, and Aqualad then continue on with Wolf to meet up with Black Canary and Red Tornado at ice fortress two. Miss Martian, Artemis, and Zatanna; take the Bioship and rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter at ice fortress three. Other Leaguers will deal with fortresses four and five. Sending all coordinates now." Kid stepped forwards with a raised hand.

"Uh, Batman? I think you skipped…"

"Kid Flash, a young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant. With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, you'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run it three thousand miles across country." Ghost watched as Kid's face dropped. She didn't feel very sorry for him. Personally she would rather do that then work with the Team and the League at the same time.

"Who is this girl?" He demanded.

"Does it matter?" Batman challenged.

"No, of course not. But can't we Zeta…" Robin cut Kid off with a sad tone.

"Zeta tubes are offline, sorry."

"Right. Then how could I say no?" Kid's shoulders seemed to slump even more as he said this.

"Guess I won't be needing stealth." He tapped the emblem across his chest and Ghost watched the uniform turn to its usual yellow and red.

"Speedy delivery boy at your service." Batman signed off. Everyone went towards their methods of transportation for the new mission. G stalled for a moment before walking up to Kid.

"Look I know we just met and that you probably don't want to hear this, but – just remember, _'Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do…'_ If you don't deliver this heart to this girl, you'll be more disappointed in yourself then you will later; even though you didn't get to go on this one particular mission. Also," G lowered her voice. "I would much rather be in your shoes and feeling like I'm doing some good then fighting some ice machines." Kid looked up at her.

"Thanks, but that doesn't really help right now." Ghost nodded as if she expected that.

"It will later." She gave him a tight smile and moved to follow Robin to the Supercycle. It was close to four hours later when the battle on the various ice fortresses was finally over. Ghost heaved a big sigh of relief as she stood on the last one that had been disabled moments ago. She moved towards the edge and looked out over the sea of sky. Aqualad came up beside her.

"A few of us have been mentally conversing about you." Ghost gave him a curious look.

"That's not the best way to start a conversation." He chuckled.

"The point is you are now considered a member of this team."

"What exactly did Robin tell you all?" Aqualad raised an eyebrow.

"That this is your form of community service for previous work as an assassin for hire, that you are a dangerous Meta with technopathic abilities, and that you are trying to right previous wrongs."

"So basically everything."

"Yes." Ghost snorted.

"How do you think Kid Flash is doing?" Aqualad turned to look out across the clouds.

"Batman just updated me. He's faking the death of the Queen in order to legally arrest the person trying to kill her." Aqualad said this all in such a casual manner that Ghost had to wonder if it was a usual thing for them to save entire countries. Suddenly Aqualad smiled.

"I heard you inform Kid earlier today that you are in a relationship in order to get him to stop flirting with you. Was that true?" G glanced at Aqualad from the corner of her eye.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I believe you know Red Arrow." He looked at her with clear confusion.

"You do not mean that you and Red Arrow are…" G smirked and turned to head back to the Supercycle which was going to give them a lift back to the cave.

"I did." She heard Aqualad laugh from behind her and move to follow. As exhausted as the teens were; the ride back to the cave was quiet. They trudged back towards their rooms to change when the Zeta Tubes suddenly spit Kid out into the cave. He was clutching to his chest what looked like a cooler. Cass pointed at it.

"What is that?"

"Souvenir." And with that Kid zipped off. Cass threw her hand in the air and shook her head.

"That wasn't an answer." Surprisingly it was Superboy who chuckled.

"Come on, I'll explain it. You can call me Conner by the way." The gang continued to move towards their rooms and listened in as Conner explained Wally's souvenir habit. After they were all changed, Cass hung out around the cave a little bit to talk to her new teammates and reconnect with Mis. She couldn't help but chuckle as she learned some of the little quirks and habits of the team. Cass was more than happy about the fact that her little quirks would be accepted just as easily as everyone else's.

 **LineBreak**

Back at the manor she a Dick chose to have a snowball fight in an effort to declare the winner of yesterday's pillow war. When Bruce got home after a debrief with the League he managed to sneak out and join them. Bruce somehow managed to win even when Dick and Cass teamed up against him. They trudged back inside the kitchen sopping wet and freezing. Alfred calmly placed a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie in front of each of them. He moved away for several seconds to grab a mop, towels, and blankets for the trio. As he mopped up the water and Bruce and Dick bickered over who really won the battle Cass pondered how these people could act so kindly to her, and how she could be so lucky to end up with people that made her laugh more than Travis and Artemis did. She also wondered how these people had managed to get her to open up so quickly. It was like she had no inhibitions around these people. When they moved to the living room for a movie Cass managed to snag her sketchbook. All throughout the movie she worked diligently on several different costume designs. It was just as the movie ended did one click with her. The new design included a black, hooded jacket that clung tightly to her (but not tight enough that you could see every muscle like some outfits she knew). The pants were the same black cargo pants she had now but with more pockets. In place of her old utility belt was a standard Batdesign one with the exception that the belt was silver rather than yellow. A silver domino mask that pointed sharply at the end would adorn her face. The new boots were silver as well, but had latches instead of laces. On her back rested a holster for a bo staff. Added onto the hands were silver gloves that only covered her fingers and knuckles. The part she was most proud of though was the curly, silver _R_ that sprawled across her right shoulder. Cass nodded to herself. This was the new her. This was Raven.

She showed Bruce her ideas and designs the next morning at breakfast. He seemed slightly surprised that Cass wanted to put Ghost away, but he was more than willing to lend a hand. Bruce placed some calls (to whom they were placed was beyond her) and said that her new suit would be ready in a couple of days. Their breakfast finished up and Dick raced around to gather his school bags and books.

"Come with me." Bruce practically ordered her as Dick disappeared out the door with Alfred. She raised an eyebrow but followed him through the manor none the less. They ended up in a garage and Cass felt her jaw drop. Bruce had a lot of cars, and several of them were clearly for showing off. She gingerly ran a hand over one as they moved further into the garage. Finally Bruce picked a non-descript black car with tinted windows. It looked expensive, but wasn't nearly as flashy as some of the others.

"Wow, secretive much?" Bruce opened the door for her.

"Get in." Once Cass was securely tucked inside the car, Bruce shut the door and moved towards the driver seat. He climbed in and took off down the driveway. Cass idly tapped on the dashboard. She explored the car workings with little interest. It was just like any other car, and her main love was for the classics. Cass turned to Bruce.

"Okay, you people really don't seem to get just how much I hate surprises." There was no answer. She groaned.

"Where are you taking me? If it's to kill me and dump my body in the woods I wouldn't have used this car. The blood will stain these seats." She got a small smirk for her efforts this time.

"I'm not going to kill you and dump your body in the woods."

"Then where are we going?"

"I took the liberty of enrolling you in Gotham University." Cass gapped at him.

"I would rather you kill me!"

"You schooling is necessary."

"I went to school! I graduated high school! I don't need more schooling!"

"You need to get a job, and I'm not just going to hand you one."

"Why do I need a job? What does college have to do with that anyways? I don't need a degree to get a job!" Bruce gave a sigh.

"You need a job to help secure your identity. You may not need a degree to get a job, but you need a degree to get a decent job."

"Okay, but what identity do I need to secure?" By now they had pulled onto the college grounds. Bruce reached behind the car seat and pulled out a bag and several files. He pulled something out of his pocket as well.

"Here, put this on." Cass glanced down at the simple, silver ring that looked like an olive branch. There were little gems in each of the leaves and it wrapped around her finger twice. She wondered what in the world this had to do with her identity but slipped it onto her middle finger anyways. A shiver traveled down her spine and she closed her eyes. Cass glanced down and was surprised to see her normally pale skin had become tan. She grabbed a strand of her hair only to find it black. A quick peak in the review mirror showed forest green eyes. Nothing else about her face had changed, only those colors. Bruce answered her unasked questions.

"I had Zatara create this before he became Dr. Fate. It's called a disillusionment charm. As long as you wear that ring you'll look like you do now. That's your new identity for while you're living with me." Bruce handed her one of the files and Cass flicked it open. Inside were papers declaring Bruce Wayne as her legal guardian.

"You're name will still be Cassandra Blake, but I thought that since your features are distinguishable this would provide not only a nice way to both protect your identity as Gho – Raven but also provide a way to still retain anonymity in the civilian world. This hopefully explains why you need to get a degree and work towards a career." Cass, to her horror, felt tears welling up. She pushed them down. Cass looked back up from the file to see Bruce looking rather uncomfortable and – dare she say it – anxious. Seeing that expression on his face Cass lunged forwards and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you." She whispered. Bruce hugged her back.

"You're welcome." When Cass finally released him, Bruce cleared his throat a little awkwardly and handed her the other file and the bag.

"This is your class schedule. You're currently an art major with a minor in business, but you can change before the end of the week if you want to. Since you're starting just before this semester ends you're probably going to be kind of lost for the next couple of months." Cass gave the man a grin.

"Thank you, I think I'll be fine." She wrapped a hand around the bag sitting in her lap and peaked outside.

"Good luck Cass. I think Harper is planning on picking you up afterwards." She laughed at the fact that Bruce referred to him by his last name.

"Don't worry, _Dad_. I've got this!" She slammed the door shut behind her and left Bruce blinking in shock after her. It took a full minute before the car started and drove away, much to Cass's amusement. She turned to face the school suddenly very glad of the fact that she had gotten dressed before breakfast. Cass took a deep breath, straightened up, and moved towards the front hall.

 **LineBreak**

True to Bruce's prediction, Roy was waiting in the college parking lot for her. She smiled and moved towards him with her bag over her shoulder. Cass changed direction though when her eyes caught the car that Roy was leaning on. She quickly pulled her gloves off and ran a hand over the black Cobra Jet Mustang. Roy looked offended.

"What I come to pick you up from your first day of college and you ignore me for the car."

"Mmmhmm… You seriously can't expect me to place you above this beauty." He chuckled and moved to grab her bag and open the door for her.

"Okay, you two can talk later. Right now though I'm pretty sure we have a date." Cass glanced at the open door. She did a double take when she saw that it was the driver's side.

"Are you seriously gonna let me drive her?" Roy smirked.

"Do you really think I would show you this car if I didn't want to let you drive her? I figured you would drive her anyways I just want you using the steering wheel rather than your Meta abilities." Cass grinned and hopped inside.

"Buckle up buttercup." Roy winced.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"You might not?" She tore out of the parking lot with a giggle.

 **LineBreak**

It was a little before New Year's (and several missions later) when Raven was out patrolling with Batman. They had parked the Batmobile in a back alley as usual to chase down a lead on Two-Face's new plot. To say they were surprised to see the wheels off the Batmobile was an understatement. Raven full out laughed at the sight. Her mentor just gave a muttered,

"You have got to be kidding me." Their attention snapped towards the car when a sudden clang rang out. There, covered in grease, was a boy. He had dropped the tire iron and was staring at them wide eyed. He backed up a few steps and started running. Batman tased the poor kid before he could run very far. The kid hit the ground and Batman made quick work of handcuffing the kid and dropping him in the back seat of the Batmobile while Raven went around and replaced all the tires on the car. She glanced back at the unconscious kid as they drove towards home. Feeling the sudden urge to push B's buttons Raven gave another chuckle.

"We're keeping him, right?"

 **LineBreak**

 **AN: Okay, originally I had planned to end this story here and start working on either a prequel or sequal. However, NerdySkittlez made a very good point. Nothing has really happened in this story. I've been thinking about it, and leaving it just bugs me. So I'm going to be continuing! The only downside is that I wrote this last year completely before deciding to upload it. So any updates are probably going to be even more sporadic and further apart. Feel free to send me a message to kick my butt back in gear!**

 **This is also a good time to request plot points or more of a character! I'd prefer if you sent any requests through a message, but they'd be welcome in a review too!**

 **HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS FOLLOWED, FAVORITED, OR REVIEWED!**

 **NerdySkittlez: Thank you so much! I'm very happy that you enjoy this! I always love your reviews for their feedback! I keep them in mind when editing this and try to work them in!**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Okay, I'm having trouble with the formatting for Chapter 13... I'm going to keep trying to fix this. Hopefully it will be resolved soon!**


	14. Unlucky Chapter 13

**HUGE thanks to B00kFan for giving me a heads up about the formatting issues! This chapter has been unlucky, and continued to upload wrong. Let me know if the issue persists this time, please!**

 **winterandsnow: I'm so very sorry about teasing, I had previously uploaded the chapter before replacing it with an AN to explain why it was suddenly taken down.**

 **Quick Note: This chapter takes place after New Years in the Young Justice universe. Mainly because it's really hard to write OCs into existing episodes.**

The sun was barely up and peeking over the horizon when Alfred caught her fiddling with the coffee machine. Tools littered the kitchen island. Where Cass had found such tools was beyond him. He cleared his throat lightly as he walked further into the room. Her head shot up to stare at him with wide eyes. Alfred took that moment to study her appearance. The beginnings of dark circles were formed under her eyes and her hair was a ruffled mess. The colorful wires dangling from her mouth, the slight smudge of grease on her cheek, and the overly baggy sweatshirt that Alfred was one hundred percent certain was Bruce's didn't help the picture.

"Sup?" She questioned through the wires. Alfred picked up one of her notebooks to glance at the sketched design before turning to glare at Cass.

"Have you been up the entire night, Miss Cass? You didn't have patrol, you should be catching up on all the sleep you miss," Alfred admonished. He headed towards the stove to start preparing breakfast for the girl. Meanwhile the Meta pulled the wires from her mouth and resumed rewiring the machine.

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted. Alfred raised a quizzical eyebrow to her ducked head, but thankfully didn't ask why.

"And you decided to take apart the coffee maker? Don't you usually find comfort with more artistic means?" She flinched as the machine sparked a little.

"I do, usually. I just… needed a distraction. Art is for translating feelings. Mechanics is for ignoring them." Alfred sighed as he waited patiently for Cass to continue. He could tell that the girl had something on her mind. Satisfied with her work, Cass popped the back cover back onto the coffee maker before setting it back in its place. She started gathering her tools without looking at Alfred. "I've done some pretty bad things Alfred. I… I remember them sometimes."

"Nightmares?" Alfred questioned, turning back to the stove. He could hear Cass take a shaky breath.

"Yeah."

"Would you like to talk about them? Even Master Bruce seems to find it somewhat helpful. Or perhaps if you don't wish to talk about your nightmares then you could simply talk about anything." Cass tugged at the sweater sleeves. They sat in silence for a while with only the sizzling bacon sounding between them. Just when Alfred was certain that Cass wasn't going to say anything, she started.

"When I was little I lived a floor above Artemis in an old apartment building. It wasn't coincidence, of course. My dad actually knew her dad; they were friends, if you could call it that. I would sneak down the fire escape all the time. We had this secret little knock that would let the other know we were there. We still use it actually." Alfred placed a plate full of food in front of her before sitting across the island. "We became friends pretty quickly, and seeing our friendship our dads started sending us out on jobs together. We were actually a pretty good team. There was this one job though when we ran into someone else after the same thing." She saw Alfred's quizzical stare. "It was a simple con of a wealthy politician. Get his bank account information and drain it. Except when we finally got into his bank account, it was already empty. Artemis managed to trace the transfer far enough that we got a location. Imagine our surprise when we found a little, curly haired, Hispanic kid the same age as us. And suddenly our duo was a trio." She smiled wistfully. "Three seven year olds who thought they were the best criminals in the world." A clock chimed through the manor, announcing that it was six o'clock. Alfred got up and turned the coffee machine on.

"Do you feel better now, Miss Cass?" He questioned with a sly smirk. Cass responded with a small smile of her own.

"Actually, yeah. Thanks Alfred." Alfred nodded, pleased.

"Of course Miss. Cass. I found your story to be quite interesting. Before you disappear, I propose that you call your friend, Travis I believe. Arrange a meeting." He passed her a mug full of steaming coffee.

"Okay, thanks again Alfred." She hopped off the stool and disappeared back to her room.

"Anytime Miss. Cass," he muttered. The elder turned back to the island and gave a small sigh. There upon the island, Cass's plate remained untouched.

 **LineBreak**

"… I'm talking about a category which is perfectly meaningful within Chinese culture itself…"*

Cass sighed and took halfhearted notes as the lecturer droned on. Her pen scribbles on the paper soon morphed into doodles instead of words. She cursed silently and tried to refocus on what was being taught. Except that she was completely lost. Apparently her little doodling had been longer than she thought. They were now on a completely different part of the lesson.

"Great," she muttered under her breath. _Hopefully I can get a recording afterwards._ Cass gave up trying to catch up, resigned to her having to catch the recorded posting.

The moment the lecture was done she bolted towards the back corner where the audio guy usually sat and recorded everything.

"That will go up tonight, right?" The guy gave her a long glance through his scraggly hair.

"Dozed off huh?" He questioned.

"What?"

"I'm guessing you dozed off, right? Otherwise you wouldn't need the recording." _Dozed off?_ Cass mentally reviewed her "Dictionary of Slang", as Travis liked to call it. Her eyes widened after a moment in understanding.

"Oh! You mean fell asleep! No I didn't. Why would I?" Scraggly gave her a long look.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Why wouldn't – never mind! I just need to know if that recording will be up tonight." Cass frowned; she honestly didn't understand why someone would fall asleep in this class. It was mostly interesting, and even though there were parts that were a little dry it would be rude to fall asleep. _Wouldn't it?_ She made a mental note to ask someone else about it.

"Sorry, babe." Cass felt confused again, but let it go. "But sadly, we had audio trouble today. Nothing recorded." She could feel her teeth clench and grit together. Subconsciously she tugged her sleeves down further. Scraggly opened his mouth again, but Cass didn't stick around. She whirled towards the door with a scowl on her face.

"Hey! Wait up! Hey, wait!" A hand reached out to her shoulder and held her back. Cass turned around to face the person with a glare. Before her stood a short, caramel skinned girl with curly brown hair held back with a floral headscarf. She pushed the square glasses further up her nose. What surprised Cass the most though, was the fact that she didn't flinch or seemed unnerved by the glare the Cass was giving her. "Hey, I'm Celia. I heard you wanted the recording to the class. Tough break! But…" Celia ruffled through the backpack she held (also floral patterned) and dug out several papers. "You can borrow my notes!"

Cass gingerly took the papers that were being offered to her from the fast talking girl. Their fingers brushed momentarily. _Weak lungs. Asthma then. Poor immune system. Likely leftover from pervious sickness. Heartbeat steady. Not scared or nervous. Large scar on back of left thigh. Likely bullet wound. Received when running away from danger. Callouses on hands from holding a paintbrush. Likely a painter then._

"Won't you need them?" A hand was waved over her shoulder.

"Actually I scan my notes really quickly after every class. That way I don't lose them."

"Oh. Thank you, then." Celia shrugged.

"You can pay me back by going bowling with me on Friday. I'm basically going to be the third wheel, and I really don't want to go alone."

"Um… sure. I'm not a very good bowler though." In fact, Cass didn't think she'd ever been bowling. Celia waved it off again.

"It's no biggie. I'm horrible at it too. Here, hand me your phone." Cass blinked at the girl for a moment.

"Why do you want my phone?"

"To put my number in! That way I can text you all the details." Celia seemed almost used to Cass's awkwardness, and didn't seem to mind that Cass had no idea why she wanted her phone. Cass pulled the cell the Bruce had given her (a gift she was entirely against, but accepted anyways) and passed to her. After several moments of frantic typing, Celia passed it back to her.

"There ya go! I see you Friday!" Cass was still trying to comprehend what had just happened while Celia left.

"Huh." She turned towards the parking lot where she knew Bruce would be waiting. (Surprisingly he'd always pick her up, then swing by and get Dick. They'd always go out for ice cream.) She still had a confused look on her face when she slid into the car.

"How were your classes today?" Bruce questioned. She turned to him with eyebrows drawn and slightly pursed lips.

"I think I made a friend."

 **LineBreak**

Cass stared at the door in front of her, hesitating. _Trav has been my friend for ages, why am I hesitating now?_ It made no sense, but here she was. Hesitant to even knock. Cass just shook her head. _I'm being ridiculous._ She raised a gloved fist and knocked firmly on the apartment door.

"Trav? It's me, Cassandra! Open up please!" She heard the locks rattling as they came undone and the door was flung open.

"Cass!" Travis surged forwards a step before remembering that she probably didn't want a hug and stepped to the side to let her in. She gave him a cheesy grin and a pat on the shoulder as she passed.

"Nice place you got here." It was in fact, very nice. The interior was completely modern with an overall black and white design. A large window made up the far wall, revealing a gorgeous view of Gotham's skyline. She smirked to herself. Travis always did have expensive taste.

"Heh, thanks. You want something? I've got food and juice if you want." She turned to him with a surprised look on her face.

"You have food here?" Trav rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I have food here. And not just takeout or frozen meals either." She chuckled a little.

"I'm good but thanks."

They both paused for a minute and simply stared at each other.

"Where were you?" Trav broke it first.

"I was in Japan." She glanced away from him uneasily.

"You know that you shouldn't go to Japan."

"I wasn't thinking straight. My head was still screwed up from the explosion." Travis scoffed.

"Obviously. Well, since you're back I've got a job for you." He moved towards the TV.

"Trav…" He cut her off.

"I thought we'd start simple you know, get you back into the swing of things."

"Trav…" She said a little louder this time.

"So I picked out a nice easy job, a simple kidnapping. Should be easy, the target…"

"Travis!" Cass yelled, and cut him off. He gave her a confused look. "I… I don't…" She took a deep breath. "I don't do that anymore." He stared at her for a moment. Suddenly his mouth twitched into a smile as he started to laugh.

"Right… You almost had me there for a moment, Cass let me tell you!" She felt the beginnings of irritation creep through her and she turned to face him head on.

"I'm not joking." Her voice was deadpan, serious. Travis's laughter slowly trickled to a stop.

"What do you mean? You're not _normal_ now are you?" She shifted from foot to foot.

"I'm not normal, per say. But what's wrong if I was?"

"Cass, you're kidding right? You mean besides the fact that you could kill someone just by brushing your fingertips against them?" She was starting to get a little agitated.

"First off, my powers can do more than kill people. _I_ can do more than kill people. Secondly, you always thought that I could be normal if I tried!" Travis snorted again.

"Cass, I didn't think that you would ever actually try! I was being supportive. What, you think you can just flip a switch and live a boring, normal life with no action whatsoever?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what exactly are you going to do, huh?" He paused for a moment and stared at her. Travis seemed to come to a realization. "You joined them, didn't you? You joined the _heroes_ who pretend to make things better!" His voice was steadily rising in volume. "Why? What can you do with them?"

"I can at least try to redeem myself!" Travis gave her a twisted smile and huffed through his nose.

"You think you can right those wrongs? I was there with you most of the time! You cannot right the things you did by just stopping a couple of muggings! You are a murder Cass! That's all you'll ever amount to!" She took half a step back at the sudden onslaught of words, her mouth half open in horror.

Without a glance back, she stormed from the room. _I seem to be storming from rooms a lot today_.

 **LineBreak**

Raven drove a fist towards the face of the goon that stood in front of her. His nose crunched as it made contact and he staggered back. Without hesitating Raven turned, raising her heel to slam it into the temple of the guy behind her. Birdarangs whizzed past her to impale themselves in the shoulder of the goon whose nose she had previously broken. She made a mental note to thank Robin later and returned to fighting.

She took several seconds to determine the locations of Batman and Robin. Batman was currently fighting Two-Face in an impressive hand to hand display, while Robin seemed to be jumping from head to head of other goons. She rolled her eyes and turned back to fighting her own goons. One came at her with a knife. For a moment her world slowed as she considered possible reactions.

 _Option one: sidestep, grab wrist, knee to stomach, flip over shoulder, heel to temple._

 _Option two: approximately 1.3 seconds to kick knife out of hand, palm of hand to nose, shatter kneecap with kick._

Considering that fact that Raven was still pretty mad from her argument with Travis, it's not surprising that she chose the second, more violent method. As the world sped up again, she released a side kick to knock the knife out of the goon's hand, before shoving her palm into his nose and delivering a powerful kick to the man's kneecap. Bringing him down to one knee with a cry of pain. Seeing another goon come up to her side she stopped thinking and started relying on instinct. She effortlessly dodged the punch thrown at her head before grabbing his shoulder and flinging her legs around his head. Ghost had snapped his neck with a sharp twist moments later. She was off of the man before the body hit the ground, easily back flipping towards the next goon. A single strike to his larynx allowed Ghost to stop his heart and he joined his coworker dead on the ground. She continued to fight her way through the goons, killing most of them. Somewhere along the way she had drawn a knife and G's killings became slightly messier. It didn't take long before Batman realized that she wasn't just wounding them. Her next strike that would have driven the knife into the throat of another goon was quickly blocked by a black, gloved hand. Her head whipped towards the Bat's glare. She took a brief moment to glance at the knife and the goons she had dispatched before she dropped it. It hit the floor with a clang that seemed too loud. Raven glanced around again to see that Robin was trying up the last of the goons. Two-Face was nowhere in sight.

 **LineBreak**

"Fourteen people." Cass flinched as Bruce's voice sounded through his office.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Sorry won't give those people life again, Cass." His voice was firm and full of disappointment. "Two-Face got away because I had to stop you from murdering more people."

 _You are a murder Cass!_ Travis's earlier words rang through her head. _That's all you'll ever amount to!_ She took in a shaky breath as Bruce continued.

"I can't spend all my time worrying about whether or not you're going to kill someone while in the field." Bruce paused for a moment. "What was going through your head?"

"I don't… I don't know." She confessed, her voice still a whisper.

"What were you feeling Cass?" She thought about the question.

"Angry. I was angry at Travis." Bruce sighed and ran a hand over his eyes.

"You're off the field for now. No patrols, no missions with the Team." Cass straightened.

"What? You can't take me off the Team!"

"I can and I have. At least until I'm sure that you've got some control over your emotions. What happened tonight cannot happen again." Cass slowly slumped back into her seat. She could see that there was no changing Bruce's mind.

"Is that all?"

"No actually…" He shifted in an uncomfortable manner and Cass was instantly on guard. An uncomfortable Bruce didn't bode well. "I want you to see a therapist. Black Canary to be specific, that way you don't have to worry about letting classified information slip."

"No."

"This isn't negotiable. Especially if you have any plans on getting back into the field." She grit her teeth and left his office, hands balled into fists at her sides.

Cass had just barely made it to her room before she exploded.

"Arugh!" She screamed before suddenly spinning on her heel and slamming her fist into the wall. Drywall cracked and a small hole formed beneath her fist.

"Alfred doesn't like holes in his walls." The small voice brought her attention out of her internal musings. Jason stood at her door in an oversized hoodie and holding a juice box. He sucked through the straw as he watched her with an unwavering gaze. She pulled her hand from the wall with a wince and cradled it to her chest. "He also says that if you want to punch something you should punch a pillow," he continued.

"And how would you know that?" Cass walked into her bathroom to pull out some anesthetic for her bloody knuckles before reappearing in her bedroom. Jason hadn't moved.

"I've punched a couple of holes since I've been here." She raised a curious eyebrow towards him.

"How come I haven't heard of this?" Jason shrugged.

"You're always hiding." She bristled a little.

"I'm not hiding." That was true. She wasn't hiding exactly; she just needed a little space after everything. Between the drama with Roy finding out he's a clone and his betrayal of the Team and League, she hadn't felt very compelled to do much more than train, school, and patrol. In fact, she'd really only seen Jason in passing a couple of times. But she wasn't hiding. _Oh who am I kidding? I'm totally hiding._

"Whatever you say." Jason shrugged again before disappearing down the hallway. Cass slowly shut the door behind him with a sigh. Her head lightly thunked against the door.

 _Travis was right._

 **LineBreak**

 **Alright! There is the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! I plan on the Team playing a bigger role in future chapters, and I have some big plans for this story!**

 ***Core Course: Art and Art History: Painting in China by Craig Clunas, University of Oxford**


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